Study Session
February 19, 2025
Transcript
Describer:
Work Session
Wednesday, February 19th, 2025, at 5:30 p.m.
7404 Yorkshire Drive, Castle Pines, CO 80108
I. Call Special Meeting Work Session to order.
II. Roll call. Determination of quorum. Disclosure of potential conflicts.
III. Consider approving the February 19th, 2025 Work Session agenda.
IV. Communications Director Proposal Presentations.
A. Sigler Communications, Inc. Lisa Sigler.
B. Catalyst Public Affairs. Sara Goodwin.
V. Discussion: District Manager annual review and contract process.
VI. Expenditure and Contract Review Discussion.
A. Discussion: Financial Controls Policy Section 1.g. Paul Polito esq.
B. Review of Monthly Claims for Payments. Finance Director, Eric Harris.
1. Review of Draft, Bi-Weekly Bill Pay Notice to Board of Directors
2. Review and Discussion of Payments made from November 21st,
2024, to February 14th, 2025.
C. Review of Contracts. District Manager, Nathan Travis.
1. Semocor, Operations Contract.
2. Kennedy Jenks, General Engineering Proposal.
3. QP Services, Collection System Maintenance Proposal.
4. Distribution System Resources, Distribution System
Maintenance Proposal.
Mission Statement: Provide sustainable, high-quality, clean, safe, reliable, on-demand drinking water, and wastewater services to
the residents of Castle Pines North Metropolitan District at the lowest possible cost.
VII. Executive Session, Communications Director proposal discussion.
Describer:
The video starts on graphic with a white background and forest green letters which says “Castle Pines North Metro District Study Session February 19, 2025”. The meeting opens on a shot of all board members present.
Board President Jason Blackaert:
All right. Good evening and welcome to the Castle Pines North Metropolitan district. District. Work session. Today is Wednesday, February 19th, 2025 at 5:30 p.m.. We'll begin by calling the meeting to order and do a roll call.
Board Voting All Speak:
Jim. President Tara here. Jenna. Here. Leah. Present. And I'm Jason. Present. No conflicts. We will move to item number three. Consider approving the work session agenda.
Jason:
I know we have a an adjustment to make. There.
Legal Counsel Paul Polito, Esq.:
Yeah, I would recommend that the board remove item seven from the agenda. Item seven is for an executive session. since this is a study session, we can't have executive sessions during study sessions. I apologize, I should have called this earlier, but. Yeah, I would recommend removing it.
Jason:
I'll make a motion to approve the, February 19th, 2025 work session. Agenda minus item number seven, which is the works, which is the executive session.
Board Member Tera Radloff:
I'll second that. But I also have a question for the attorney, because this is a work session and so do those rules of like conflict and stuff apply. I thought work sessions were supposed to be a little more casual.
so, and then approving the agenda and stuff. So those sound like motions which sound like regular meetings. So it's just kind of double checking.
Paul:
Right. So, a work session or a study session, is, you can't take official board action, meaning, you know, any sort of substantive motions. the board would make if, if it's, you know, changing around an agenda, you're certainly you're able to do that.
but you can't take any official action of the district.
Board Voting All Speak:
Okay. Having a second on the floor. Let's go to a vote. Jim. Approve. Tara. Approve. Jenna. Approve. Leah. Approve. All right. Now that the work session agenda is approved, we will go ahead and move on to section number four, which is the communication director proposal presentations. first up, we got, Lisa Sigler with Sigler Communications. Good evening Lisa.
Describer:
On screen: Lisa comes to the podium.
Board Member Leah Enquist:
Quick question. Paul, I thought we couldn't vote during executive session or I'm sorry, during this work session, you can't take any.
Paul:
You can't take any votes on official board actions. So if you're if you're making any sort of decision on behalf of the district, you can't do that. If it's a procedural,
Leah:
like approving minutes and that's okay.
Paul:
No. You can approve the agenda for the purpose of this meeting. Approving minutes probably crossed that line. You wouldn't be able to do that. Okay. Yeah. Thanks. Yeah.
Lisa Sigler, Sigler Communications:
Okay. Thanks, Lisa. No worries. Thank you for having me. I appreciate the opportunity to come and visit with you all. you have my proposal. and I have also provided you a, packet with some work samples in it that I thought would be relevant to your organization.
just a little background on me. I started my company 29 years ago this month, and we have grown into a practice that specializes in water. Pretty much 95% of the work that we do is in the water realm. we've worked for most of the providers on the Front Range, so starting in Greeley, all the way up to Colorado Springs Utilities and pretty much everybody in between.
either we have worked for or we are currently working for, we've worked for several water providers in Douglas County. We are very familiar with the issues pertaining to your county, the reliance on groundwater, the the desire to come, to add more renewable water into the water supply. So those are not new issues to us.
we currently represent Roxboro, Parker Water. Perry Park is a new client of ours, the Bella mason metro district in Castle Rock. That's a land use water issue. And we've just begun working with the South Metro Water Authority, which I believe you're a member of. And the Wise project. So, I think that work with South Metro Water Authority is really going to give us a leg up on understanding key legislative issues that may impact your district and just general issues pertaining to water.
So we have a lot of experience. with the areas that you outlined in your RFP. strategic public relations, communications Planning and strategy, digital communications and community relations. And I'll talk a little bit about each of those, and I'd be happy to answer any questions you have, on what we put in the proposal. But the way that we handle, developing a communications plan for a client is we really get to know your issues.
Describer:
On Screen: Sigler Communications, Inc.
Proposal to Castle Pines North Metropolitan District
Submitted January 31, 2025
1. Executive Summary: Brief overview of the firm and its qualifications.
Sigler Communications is pleased to present this proposal to Castle Pines North Metropolitan District (the District). With extensive experience working with water providers – including many municipalities, conservancy and metro districts – we have a deep understanding of water issues, including those in Douglas County and across Colorado, and a strong track record of supporting similar organizations.
Founded in 1996, Sigler Communications is a leading strategic communications firm specializing in public relations, community relations and public affairs. We excel at navigating complex water, energy and land development issues through strategic messaging, media relations and community outreach. Our proven success with dozens of water providers will help the District build public trust and foster stakeholder relationships. We take pride in becoming a valued extension of our client’s teams, working collaboratively to exceed expectations and deliver meaningful results.
Lisa:
And we would like to speak with internal and external stakeholders that can help us quickly discern what the issues are and what the opportunities are. So what we are proposing is that we would do some stakeholder interviews right out the gate. We would work with Nathan and the board to identify who those people should be. Some of them may be folks sitting in this room, as well as some key community leaders.
maybe a customer too. And just we would have a pre, approved list of questions that we use. And this is sort of some qualitative research that we would do to help inform the board. We would also do a communications audit of all your materials and provide you recommendations on what we think we could, you know, add to the mix or improve public relations.
Describer:
The screen is scrolling and stops at this point in the presentation.
On screen: 5. Budget: Provide a detailed budget for one calendar year, including proposed fees
for services and any additional costs. Sigler Communications bills on an hourly rate. Each consultant’s rates are based on their experience level. Our hourly rates are as follows:
Lisa Sigler, $200
Chuck Montera, $180
Janet Rummel, $175
Bryn Webster, $150
Graphic Design, $140
Following is an estimated budget using a blended rate of $180 per hour based on the scope of work in the RFP. The costs reflect the work requested in the RFP. We are open to discussing ways to economize the budget.
More Scrolling.
Lisa:
I see this is a lot of the day to day communications that you do with your customers. And we have a vast amount of experience in that we have we do newsletters, websites, newsletters, every single tool that you can imagine that's in our that's in our tool belt. And we really help craft, I think, compelling and simple messages.
What I find with a lot of water providers is, there's a lot of technical information and water. You know, we're talking acre feet and MGD and, and wastewater issues too. And it's very confusing to the public. And until they have a baseline understanding of your business and what you do, it's really hard for them to even, you know, accept, expenditures on projects and that kind of thing.
Describer:
On screen. Lisa speaking at the podium.
Lisa:
So we really make sure that we're providing people a solid foundation, understanding where their water comes from. you know, the things that you're doing to ensure a sustainable water supply. Some of those types of messaging are very critical to gaining public support. we have done quite a bit in digital communications. We do, social media, all the various forms of social media, digital newsletters, as I said, websites.
And then we have, a lot of digital advertising capabilities, which is a really cost effective way to advertise. I noticed that you were doing some advertising, and so that's something you might want to consider. Stakeholder engagement and community relations is really a personal passion of mine. I believe that, organizations need to do more listening than talking.
And so this is really an opportunity to engage with your customers and make sure that we're hearing their viewpoints as well, and factoring that into our communications strategies. we saw that you want support with community events and whatnot. That's something we do routinely. We we, for our client Aurora water we just helped them with a tent that they take on the road for, you know, various community events.
And we printed their system water map on the back. And so the tent sort of became like an information display in and of itself. And that's been a great tool for them. Because we have so much experience in water. I feel like we've developed a lot of really creative ways to communicate with the public, and I think you'll see those in the packet.
we have experience communicating about water source development infrastructure, water conservation, water quality rate increases, which is always a favorite topic of everybody. Right. and also wastewater issues. And we're doing a lot more with our clients in, direct potable reuse. So I don't know if that's something that you all have considered or if it's on the horizon that we know how to talk about it because there's certain things you want to avoid for sure.
Describer:
On screen: Digital Communications:
Social media, Website and Email Communications Campaign:
6 hours social; 3 hours website; 8 hours email campaigns per month (17 hours) x 12 = $36,720
Community Engagement: Organize and participate in community events and workshops. Create surveys, bill inserts, annual CCRs, budget and rate communications documents.
Events: 20 hours per event (design costs not included) = $3,600
Surveys: TBD (based on qualitative/quantitative and format)
Monthly Bill Inserts: Develop a template format, write and present report monthly in person.
5 hours for template; 6 hours per report x 12 = $13,710
Annual Consumer Confidence Report (up to 10 pages): 20 hours writing; 20 hours design ($140/hr) =
$6,400
Budget and Rate Communications Document: 10 hours writing; 10 hours design ($140/hr) = $3,200
Crisis Communications: Ongoing engagement and develop plan.
Crisis Communication Plan development: 15 hours = $2,700
Crisis Support: TBD (most likely minimum of 20 hours per event)
Total: $107,870 * (includes support for one event, does not include media buy costs, survey costs or design costs for
event support)
Lisa:
Issues management and crisis support are really imperative. There isn't a district out there that doesn't go through tough issues or crisis situations from time to time. And we've done a little research on your district, and I've seen some of the things that you guys have encountered. we have a lot of experience doing this. In fact, we were just hired by Perry Park not too long ago to work on their radium issue, which I'm sure you saw in the press.
Sort of after it blew up and they got a lot of press coverage, they called us and said, help us, help us rein this back in. So we worked with them on key messaging and interacting with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to get them, to help us with messaging, because they were a credible third party entity.
And we did a virtual, town hall meeting for them and a press conference, and things have calmed down, knock on wood, that they're their next results come back positive. But we've got things under control. we worked with Security Water and Sanitation District down south on PFAS as they were one of the first utilities in the country to have the distinction of having PFAS in their drinking water and their levels were the highest in the country.
And so they called us on a Sunday afternoon, panicked, front page of the, New York Times. And we sat down with them and developed strategy, a plan, messaging, community meetings, the full gamut, and got got in front of the issue. We're currently working with Englewood Water on a billing crisis situation they have. They brought on a new billing contractor who was going to help them, transition to online billing and they introduced AMI at the same time.
Describer:
On screen: Lisa at the podium.
Lisa:
And it just was very it was a train wreck. Let me just put it that way. they had bills go out that were inaccurate. They had bills going out that, failed to include the water charges for like six months. So people were getting these enormous water bills in the middle of winter and asking what was going on.
So we sat down with them and again developed a plan, key messaging. What kind of outreach they needed to be doing, how they how they can again, rebuild trust with their, with their customers. we have worked on many water infrastructure projects from small installations of pipelines, to billion projects that involved the construction of new reservoirs.
So we're very experienced at taking a client from permitting through construction and helping with all that construction communications that's required as part of infrastructure projects. So everything from, you know, road closures to dust, noise, all the types of thing that things that neighbors complain about. We help you communicate that. I'd like to point out to one of our team members whose, bios in your packet, Janet Rummel, was, in-house communications at Colorado Springs Utilities for for ten years.
Describer:
On screen: JANET RUMMEL, SENIOR CONSULTANT
Janet has two decades of experience leading public relations, issues management, and stakeholder engagement for municipal water and wastewater utilities. She possesses a deep understanding of water issues and has managed communications related to major capital programs, supplies, treatment, delivery, regulations, water quality, utility rates and contracts, environmental protection, conservation and reuse, water rights, land acquisition, permitting, construction and system failures. Janet served as the public relations staff lead for Colorado Springs Utilities during the Southern Delivery System regional water project, which included the NEPA process, state and 1041 permitting, land acquisition, construction and successful completion. Additionally, Janet directed communications for the North Texas Municipal Water District, which provides water and wastewater services to 2 million residents in North Texas
On Screen. Lisa.
Lisa:
And then, was the head of communications at a water district in Texas that served 2 million people. So this is somebody who's been on the inside and has a really good handle on what districts and water providers experience, from the inside out. And she would be serving, on this team. So I guess if I could leave you with one takeaway, we're no strangers to challenges.
We work with clients all the time to overcome issues and challenges, as well as looking for positive opportunities to get out there and share your story. as I said, we've I did a little research on some of the issues that you've encountered, and I think if we were to work together, we would be a partner in anticipating issues and maybe trying to head them off of the pass, looking at ways that we can defuse them and at the at the very least, address them.
We believe transparency with the public is key, and that's how you maintain and build trust. So we we we we typically advocate for a very transparent message. we want to make sure that your side of the story gets told and that it gets told accurately. So I'm a big proponent on making sure that we set the record straight when it's wrong, and that we make sure that we're out there with, accurate information.
Because we know in this day and age, with social media and everybody's a journalist essentially, you know, behind the key warrior, typing off their nasty grams that we got to really stay on top of it. And that's what we can help you do. I think our experience will help us hit the ground running. I think there's going to be very little, learning curve.
certainly we'll have to learn your system. But we we are very familiar with issues, and we look forward to the prospect of working with you. I appreciate the opportunity.
Jason:
Great. Thank you. Lisa, does anybody have any questions for Lisa?
Leah:
I have a comment. Lisa, very nice to meet you, Leah. Appreciate you coming and presenting. transparently.
I part of the reason I ran, was my passion for communications and transparency. And I think we've made a lot of progress in that area. But, the pieces of your presentation that really stuck out to me that I would want to highlight for the board was the, stakeholder analysis and that comms audit. and I really think that is key.
because I feel like this past year we just kind of hit the ground running and threw a bunch of stuff at the wall to just kind of see what would stick, versus trying to understand, like, where are the gaps? What does success look like, and how do we measure success to know that we are putting effort into the right things?
so that's my comment. Follow up question would be, to that last piece, you know, identifying those success criteria, you know, measuring our efforts against that. What does that typically look like for you when you're working with water districts?
Lisa:
Sure. I mean, the beauty of this digital age we live in is, is there's built in metrics on all, you know, we've got Google Analytics now, which can track how many people are going to your website, what pages are they looking on, how long are they saying there are we can we can dig in deep and look at a lot of analytics as it relates to social media.
So those are kind of the more, qualitative or excuse me, quantitative measurements. As far as qualitative, I think a lot of it is by the type of feedback that you're getting from customers. I mean, is the phone ringing off the hook constantly? Are people complaining about certain things or people showing up for these meetings? Disgruntled? I mean, one of the things we could do, which I really like doing, is the stakeholder interviews that we would do at the onset.
We could use those folks as a sounding board and really go back to them even annually to say, okay, how did we do what, you know, what? What are the gaps? What should we be doing? More or less? I mean, I think those if we have stakeholders that represent all the key audiences that you need to be communicating with, that's probably the best way to take the pulse of how effective the communications efforts are.
Leah
Thank you.
Jason:
thanks, Leah. Does anybody else have any questions? Okay. Tera.
Tera:
Congratulations on your, firm. And I know. Makes me feel old. yeah. I don't know that I say that number one, but, so, you talked about the different entities that you're working with. do you think because of that, that would create any conflicts of interest?
Lisa:
And how do you approach conflicts of interest? Well, I would ask you all, if you perceive any of these clients to be a conflict of interest. I mean, I know you've done work with Parker Water before. so, I mean, that would be a question you'd have to answer. But I think it's a I think it's actually a plus for you all because we have such a good handle on the issues.
And I think there's a lot of collaboration that should be happening amongst water districts. So I think we could bring that to the table. I mean, I was at the board member board meeting of the South Metro Water Authority, my very first one that I attended. And the first half an hour of that meeting was going over. All the legislation that's going to affect water districts in the next year.
And it was like a gold mine, you know, it's like things that I would not have known. Now I'm going to have exposure to that information. And that's the kind of information that I can bring back to you and say, these are key issues that I think you need to be aware of. So I actually see it as a real plus.
if we ever felt that there was something that we should not I mean, I see it as an Iron curtain between clients. I'm not going to discuss what we discussed with Parker or Roxboro or whomever, unless you give me permission to do that. And I will not be sharing information from them with you. So, we do have that separation, but when it comes when it can be advantageous, you know, advantageous to you, I'd be happy to to broker those conversations.
Tera:
Thank you. and one of the things I found interesting in your, proposal was talk to me a little bit about your, maybe. Successes with annual, consumer confidence reports and how you, approached them.
Lisa:
We take them from dry, boring, indecipherable content and make them interesting. I think there's a missed opportunity because they can be the organization's annual report.
That's what we did with Englewood. We kind of took it from data and tables and the required language that EPA dictates and made it this wonderful, showpiece for their water department, talking about all their different initiatives. And we, we, we thought outside the box, we actually put in information that wasn't required. It was just good information that we should be getting across to their, constituents.
They have a taste, an odor hardness issue in their water. I noticed you guys mentioned that to, it's a real key issue for their constituents. So we explained what they're doing to correct that or, you know, to improve that. That isn't anything that's necessarily required by EPA. It's just good to communicate that kind of information. So we would look for those type of opportunities of, you know, how how we can showcase what you all are doing in that report and take it beyond just a requirement.
Tera:
Thank you ma'am.
Jason:
Thanks, Tara. Anybody else have any questions? Okay. Thank you very much for your presentation. The opportunity great. Next up we have, Catalyst Public Affairs with Sarah Golden.
Sara Goodwin, Catalysts Public Affairs
There it is.
Okay, great. Thank you. Hello. Good evening everyone. I'm Sarah Goodwin with Catalyst Public Affairs. And, really pleased to present our proposal, for our, approach to strategic communications and community engagement services. support for the district.
Describer:
On Screen: A slide describing Cast Pines North Metro District objectives and values as opposed to Catalyst value. Sara describes this slide.
Sara:
I first wanted to start with. Kind of a speaking to our understanding of what the district is looking for in terms of communications support and, going over how catalyst can really deliver the results that you're looking for.
So, throughout the, the, RFP process and, just investigating, looking at your different communication channels, we, have the understanding that that you're really trying to enhance your community engagement, increase awareness of your services with residents, garner public support, and also to, really, double down on more consistent, transparent and clear communication with your residents.
And so how does catalyst help you do that? we are a public affairs firm. We specialize in education, issue industry and brand campaigns, specifically with strategic communications and community engagement or outreach programs. and we, approach everything with a, you know, kind of a political dynamic, a legislative and a regulatory lens. we also have some significant experience in, working with and knowledge of local governments and special districts.
Describer:
On Screen: The Catalyst Approach, Sara describes this slide.
Sara:
And, we are well connected in the Castle Pines and Douglas County community. this is basically in a nutshell, this is, the catalyst approach. This is kind of a high level snapshot of how we approach this kind of work. you know, to put it very simply, we develop the right messages for the right audiences to be delivered at the right time.
So, the first step in our approach or process is to identify or recognize the challenge that a client is facing. we identify those key issues, the communications objectives to solve those issues and to, we conduct a kind of a forensic analysis or inventory of the existing communications infrastructure. And are there any gaps? the second step is to develop the message, we determine those key message points and identify the key stakeholders and audience audiences, target audiences who, need to hear those messages.
and then we also the third step is to identify those those messengers, those are the influential and engaged community members, different stakeholders, with your with your organization and your, business. So we identify those and then we deliver the message. and again, that's, that's a very strategic, intentional mix of communication tools and vehicles that we use, tailored to the, the issues for, each client.
Describer:
On screen. The Catalyst Team, Sara describes these slides.
Sara:
So who is catalysts? the catalyst team, myself, Sarah Goodwin. should you, hire catalyst? I would be designated as the communications director for the district. and it's my understanding from the RFP that the communications director position is really primarily to manage the day to day communications and the the planned community outreach, functions. So I wanted to kind of go over in addition to catalyst work, which I'll talk a little bit more about, in a future slide, I want to highlight the relevant work and the significant experience that I personally have had directing and implementing strategic communications and community outreach programs for, pretty distinct organizations.
one of those is the Regional Air Quality Council. I was the communications director for the RAC, as we call it, for about seven years. the RAC is a quasi governmental agency, and I in my time there, I developed and directed the nine county regions air pollution, public awareness education and outreach program. This included paid, owned and earned media strategies, outreach and events, and strategic partnerships.
I also led the messaging strategy for the entire organization and all the different programs, with a focus on the causes of poor air quality and, ways to improve it. And I also led the content strategy of our four organizational websites. All of our social media platforms, our electronic newsletter presentations, speeches, collateral, you name it. and then also during my time, I thought it would be relevant to, to, let you know that that I also created a local government and community advisory group that was really instrumental in helping us to talk about a stakeholder group.
They were a great stakeholder group in terms of, Helping us form our messages and reach our target audiences, specifically at the community level. I also was the director of consumer public relations and communications for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and in that role, I directed all aspects of the beef as what's for dinner, consumer public relations program.
And I also was, in charge of implementing, an association wide issues management communications program related to all the various issues that the beef industry, comes across, including food safety, nutrition, environmental stewardship, things like that. So that aside, all the that that, communications experience aside, I also wanted to just touch a little bit on my personal, connection to Castle Pines and Douglas County.
I have been a resident in Douglas County for over 20 years. I'm I'm in Lone Tree, which is I think it was a ten minute drive even in some rush hour traffic. And so, that that is to say, I'm in the community. I'm active in the community. I would be, very available for in-person meetings, work, in the office, community events, and should, the situation arise where there's an issue or, a community issue, a crisis, so to speak.
I am available to be on site. I can be a spokesperson. I, was the spokesperson for the U.S beef industry and for the for the RAC, so I'm very familiar with that role. and then also more recently, I have I was appointed to the board of directors for the Douglas County Community Foundation, and I am now, chair of the communications committee.
So, really enjoying that role, working in the community. with, with different volunteer members, to implement some, some communication strategies for the foundation. And then I also, recently started, working as a freelance writer for the Castle Pines Connection. So I wanted to just mention that because I do think that those are, those could be, you know, bring value to the district in terms of building awareness and public support for, for your activities.
And, you know, I think it also provides an opportunity to enhance the district's community visibility through those connections that I have and will develop, to continue to develop. And, I think it also presents an opportunity to really align the district with, you know, maybe some relevant local nonprofits or causes and Castle Pines businesses and residents to, really enhance, again, your your visibility and your engagement in the community.
our other team members with catalyst are, Jen Webster and Whitney Bird. Jen would serve as strategic counsel if needed, and Whitney would serve as project support if and when needed. and just to kind of collectively, wanted to point out that our team does have decades of experience providing strategic communications and community outreach for, you know, very forward facing and highly scrutinized entities and organizations.
this includes the oil and gas sector, state agencies, trade associations and business chambers.
Describer:
On Screen. Catalyst's experience with local governments and special districts. Sara describes these slides.
Sara:
Okay. So what is catalyst experience with local governments and special districts? is, as a public facing entity with elected officials, I, we really feel it's important for the district to be framing your narrative and messaging with an awareness of and sensitive sensitivity to the political dynamics of the area and region. here on this slide, I wanted to highlight the work that our firm has done for some local governments and special districts specifically to enhance their community engagement and implement strategic communications programs for their public facing projects.
for example, with the city of Aurora and Arapahoe County, we, executed educational campaigns and community outreach, highlighting their infrastructure needs and funding challenges. And this was work in advance of the city and the Board of County commissioners making a decision to either refer or not refer a funding measure to the ballot and then, likewise for the Lions and West Metro fire districts.
We also did we executed education campaigns and community outreach leading up to the board of directors decision, in both cases to refer measures to voters. but with those, we went one step further and we also conducted the actual public campaign to build support for the ballot measures. all of that to say, I know I understand that the district does not currently have any specific funding or ballot measure, in the works, but as you progress in your renewable water, initiatives, that could change.
So I just wanted to point out that if if the need arises down the road for this kind of work, catalyst is, is is very, experienced in this area. And we would be happy to support you in that way. Some of the other, local government work we've done, we supported the city of Lone Tree with their yes, on 2E
Campaign. And we currently, work with Lowery Superfund sites, particularly with the city and County of Denver and Waste Management, as they are managing their site cleanup. we are working with them on some community outreach, activities that is, informing the community about the cleanup process and, and collecting their feedback.
this is just the next few slides are an example of the work we did with the city of Aurora. We, I didn't really go through it on that previous slide, but we built and created a whole new brand for them called Build Up Aurora. And this was to support their capital projects, particularly and their, their neighborhood road rehabilitation program.
this is a program. This is this is maintenance that had been deferred for literally decades. And so it was it was a huge, huge community, ask and need. so this was the these are examples of some slides that we've put together for different community meetings that we had in the specific neighborhoods where there was being work done on the roads.
So, just wanted to show this as an example of some of the, you know, really kind of grassroots boots on the ground work that we do, to communicate with certain communities, and, and, and gather their feedback. We had, we developed a whole dedicated webpage to the program that included an FAQ section. residents could submit questions and they would have them.
We would answer the questions online on the on the web page. and then again, we conducted these, these meetings and probably I want to say 15 to 20 different neighborhood meetings, usually arranged in partnership with the, the HOA of these neighborhoods. And, you know, just got really specific with, with the communities on what roads in their neighborhood are being affected when and then again, collecting their feedback because that's very important.
This was just how the city of or a paid for it and very being very transparent with the communities about their tax dollars, what's going on? How is this being paid for? and then this just shows, this is one neighborhood that was being affected, and we show the actual streets that are, being, repaired. So just an example of what we do or did for Aurora.
Describer:
On screen. Slide describing Stop of Work, Tactics and Deliverables. Sara will describe these slides.
Sara:
and then here's the nitty gritty. What's our what's our scope of work? This was all in our proposal, tactics and deliverables. The, the the bread and butter is the strategic communications plan, including all of those things. and just wanted to to kind of, go over that. When we were putting together our proposal, we did we did kind of do our own little, analysis of your communications channels.
And, we did identify that there is there is a need for simpler and more concise messaging throughout the district channels. there obviously is. And and you say that that's in the RFP, a desire to enhance your online and community president presence. but we suggest and recommend that, taking a very humanistic approach to that.
So, we envision, you know, increasing your, your digital presence with some more visual stories of the district and what you do, the renewable water process, the district out in the community working to deliver on your mission to make sure water is of highest quality, things like that. And then also really, enhancing, in your communications, the district's successes and accomplishments, but also your challenges and your needs.
So, those are our kind of, our recommendations, and related to the, the crisis or what I would call issues management. need, it's. Yeah, it's absolutely critical to do a communications plan for, a water district or metro district and, it's critical that it's proactive and timely and it's consistent and it's transparent, like I've said a couple times before, and it's action oriented.
So, we would certainly make sure that that is part of the plan. And, I'll also wanted to just touch on the message development, super, super important. And we think you have a lot of really good stories to tell. and these, these main areas are, you know, content buckets, I would call them. And so we would really love to help the district create kind of a messaging platform or roadmap.
And then getting a little bit more detailed about the actual, work that catalyst can do for the district. you do have a variety of existing communication channels and vehicles. but as a first step, we always recommend kind of conduct conducting that forensic analysis of those existing channels. as a part of that, we also suggest or recommend conducting some research or surveying your residents on, the issues they see being important to the district, but also where and how they prefer to get their information about the district.
and then using that information, then that resident feedback catalyst can build out a really robust communications infrastructure that uses a strategic mix of these, these tools and channels. So, I wanted to touch real quick on the community engagement part. I realize that you have an agreement, it sounds like, with the Chamber of Commerce to conduct community events 2 to 3 with of events with, I guess per year.
and again, that that community survey pieces is really, really important. in the PR and in the media section, I again wanted to point out that, you know, the relationship with the Castle Pines connection is, is is pretty unique. And also, I don't think I mentioned it back with, with Arapahoe County, we developed a pretty unique relationship with Colorado Community Media and, they agreed to let us submit a monthly column to the, Douglas County or sorry, which member was Littleton Press?
one of the, the community newspapers. So, that is to say, we do have a really good relationship with Colorado Community Media, which I think could be advantageous for the district. and then the last thing I'll say on this slide is related to, the collateral and content piece with the newsletter. Nathan, you and I had a, like, really brief email exchange about, the desire to maybe implement, monthly or quarterly newsletter.
I think that's a phenomenal idea. I think it does depend on, the survey of our of the residents to see if that is something that they would actually read and utilize and find valuable. So, I wanted to say that we have a lot of experience doing that. In fact, I just submit our just distributed our first, Douglas County Community Foundation newsletter last week.
so that is to say, we have we have experience doing all of those many, many things. and I think that is it. well, can take questions. Wanted to thank you all for the opportunity to be here and present our proposal, proposal and potentially partner the district.
Jason:
Great. Thank you. Sarah, does any member of the board have any questions?
Tera:
thank you for coming. I just had a quick question because I think and you talked a little bit about it, but so you, also have done work on, I don't know if you want to call them not issues, but campaigns or whatever. Like you said, if we continue with renewable water or whatever we may have, something comes up.
So you work on that 2E** and Lone Tree, the campaigns that you've done, were they successful? Yes. They were kind of from something to getting them on the ballot and helping them be
Sara:
right. And, and I, I need to be very clear that the, the work we did upfront or in advance of any kind of ballot measure that was a different source of funding from the campaign work.
just make that very clear. but yes, in in the case of the two fire districts, both of their ballot measures passed and, in the case of Lone Tree that passed, and again, with Aurora and Arapahoe County, we didn't do the you got the extra stuff for that, that second step. I believe that, actually, Arapahoe County did put something on the ballot in November, and I believe it passed.
City of Aurora is still in a educational, phase, I guess so.
Tera:
Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you for coming tonight. Thanks.
Jason:
I just, I just had a question or comment. You, mentioned that you were part of the Beef Association, right? So were you part of the team that, when Polis rolled out his, meat free or meat out day, were you part of the response to that?
Sara:
no, that was after my time at the the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. However, I don't know if you remember, and I'm forgetting the year, but I do remember it was Christmas Eve and the US had its first case of mad cow disease, and I was the PR director at the time. And so, that was a Christmas filled with mad cow disease and messaging and yeah, it was a lot, but, I know what you're talking about, and and I have farmer friends that didn't like that, but
Jason:
yeah, I think they built a pretty good response to that.
Sara:
Yeah. Yeah they did. Yeah. Whoever did that was it was great.
Jason:
Yeah. Perfect. All right. Any other questions?
Board Member James Mulvey:
Okay. I wrote down a couple comments he made. you did a forensic analysis, or you looked at, our current, I guess, outreach. where do you use that? You would change or simpler, more concise messaging and more visual.
in what regard? I mean, what did you identify by looking at our current media outlets that you would change, just as an example?
Sara:
I think, for instance, with, with the website, I think there's there's more, we could do with kind of,
I guess, for lack of a better term, get rid of some text and content. and really making it more who you are, what you do, and appealing more to your customers and the residents. and again. I think a way to do that is to take a more humanistic approach, you know, get you all out in the community, maybe, do do some, some digital, some video stories.
and I know you do that a little bit as well. I saw some, on your social media channels, but, I do think there's a lot of opportunity to, give a little bit more humanistic approach to the district and, the work you do.
James:
Thank you.
Leah:
I guess I have a question, around that topic, one of our resident emails said something similar where she would appreciate it more like board interaction.
So just curious, like, what would that look like? Practically?
Sara:
Oh, board interaction. Well would it.
Leah:
Sorry. Board interaction with the community.
Sara:
Yeah. Okay. So so I did mention, my work with the Douglas County Community Foundation and the Castle Pines connection. I think making those connections or having those connections of, of different events in the community, I think having you involved, you know, maybe it's just it's providing more information at the, at these different community events.
and I do think that the newsletter ideas are really good opportunity to, to highlight the board of directors and, again, that the good work you're doing in, you know, again, communicating very transparently with, with residents about the needs and challenges of the district.
Jason:
Great. I think that's everything. Thank you very much, Sarah. Okay. Thank you. We will go ahead and close out. Item number four, the communication Director proposal presentations. And we'll move on to item number five, discussion of the District Manager's annual review and contract processes. Nathan, do you want to take this?
District Manager Nathan Travis:
yep. So, Leah and I have exchanged a couple of emails, and she was kind enough to put together, a brief slide presentation here, and I want to make this the first slide or two to jump me into the middle.
So I thought, there we go. So if you want to talk to him, I can run them for you.
Describer:
On screen: Recommended review process, based on experience and common practices:
• Due December 1st: District Manager completes self-evaluation, to include challenges faced, accomplishments, summary of current goals, and goals for the following year. Self-evaluation is submitted to Board President, or board
designee.
• Due one-week prior to January work session: Initial/ draft review is completed by board president, or designated board member. The board member responsible is required to have served during the full duration of the contract year, at a minimum. Draft is sent to the rest of the board for review.
o Considerations for thought: Execution of district mission, financial management, staff management, contractor and vendor management, communication skills.
o Personal Preference: In addition to board member evaluation- 360 review input, to include comments from staff, consultants, and industry peers that work with the DM regularly. Input from 3-5 peers recommended, comments to be kept anonymous to everyone other than Board President or designee.
• January Work Session: Executive session is held to discuss input from other board members and finalize the review.
o Evaluation of goals set in the prior year.
o New goals for the upcoming year are determined.
o Compensation reviewed- based on performance, and comparison to other regional water districts that are similar in size and scope of operations.
o Proposed Contract Amendment/ renewal, if needed
• Board President, or designated board member schedules 1:1 meeting to present review and proposed contract amendment/extension.
o The district manager can elect to sign review, or request to present additional information, or further negotiation in executive session at the following board meeting.
• January Board Meeting:
o If needed: Executive session is held for district manager to present any comments, or additional contract negotiations.
o Vote is held to approve the contract.
Annual contract, set to renew on February 1st of each year.
Leah:
Who's excited to look at more slides to, just the easiest way to communicate. there's just a couple and a lot of the information in this slide. Actually, the the bulk of it came from Nathan. And so I just try to put it in a visual format. So what you see is basically what the, what we envision the process should look like.
And this is just like a draft, right? To get something down to facilitate a conversation. I did build on top of this slide, right where I show, like, what I think we can do this year. since obviously, you know, we've we've missed those. Nope, nope. Go back. Only because it's distracting. Yeah, but so. Okay, so that's what it'll look like when we get to it.
There you go. Okay. So. So at a high level, there's kind of the two components where Nathan is doing a self-assessment and then as a board, you know, we're doing an assessment of Nathan. and and so that first step is Nathan completing that self-assessment. And in the following slide, I took a stab at what those prompts could be in, those annual review assessments.
And they also have some thoughts around, like the vehicle that they could live in, like how we actually capture them and share them. and then the next piece would be I just put December, but that would be kind of throughout the month of December, where we're filling out that self-assessment. the same not sorry, not self-assessment, annual review.
and right now I have the prompts the same as is Nathan's self-assessment. and then one thing that that Nathan added is, is gathering feedback from, you know, relevant vendors and staff and including that as part of the assessment. This is the piece where I was a little bit stuck, and I probably tweaked it from like how you had it, Nathan.
But it I was more trying to think like, how can we all capture individual feedback and then feed it up into kind of one consolidated assessment? So it was like step one, we all do our individual feedback. And then the next step would be, you know, the board president or someone else that we've designated to basically roll that feedback up.
So it's it's one document with consolidated feedback from the board. Nathan added in here that that board member should have served during the full duration, of the contract year at a minimum. And I think that's a good practice in general, just because they'll have the knowledge of how things went over that past year. and then the next part would be during the January work or study session.
Although, Nathan, we can't go into an executive session here.
Nathan:
Right. And, I just got that delineation before the meeting. And so I guess, question to consider a more broadly and I don't know if this would be something for Paul to weigh on, weigh in on as rather than tag the study sessions as we're doing them, we could just hold hold them as board meetings with the intent of reviewing documents and reviewing things.
And we're going to take action on. But that would give us a little bit of leeway to add executive sessions, even if we're not going to take action out of them.
Paul:
And you could also set a special meeting and have an executive session during that special meeting that would give you a little bit of flexibility is when you would set it up.
Leah:
Okay. So instead of the board work session, it would be like the special meeting.
Paul:
It would be. That's right. It would be a special meeting. It wouldn't be a study session. And so the board could take action if I wanted to. Although you don't have to. but important distinction being that it's not a study session.
Leah:
Okay, so, Nathan, I'm updating the slide live.
It's not going to reflect because you probably downloaded this.
Nathan:
no, I'm using the five document.
Leah:
Oh, did it do it? It did. Okay. No, I put in special meeting. Oh, yeah. Interesting. Okay. Anyways, I'm updating the source document. So if you click on that link, it should, reflect the most current. Okay. So if we had a instead of our study session, you know, mid-January we could have a special meeting mid January where we could go into executive session.
and basically, I don't know if we would need to necessarily talk about our consolidated feedback, but it could be an avenue to do that, as well as set goals for the next year, and then also go through Nathan's contract and determine, you know, if there are any updates need to be made, especially around salary and then the next step would be, after that, that that board president or designee would, would have like a one on one meeting with Nathan where they actually go over kind of the self-assessment and then the actual like the consolidated board review.
And in that January board meeting, that's when we could approve the contract. and then if needed, we could go into executive session, like if Nathan has any comments or questions that he would want to direct to the board. so that just mapping out a high level, I'm going to pause. What do you guys think?
Tera:
I like the process, and I am more interested in your, next step of the vehicle, what that might look like.
Leah:
Oh, weird. You're on. Okay, I made it. Okay. so I over over top. I just put, like, so what could we do this year given that we've obviously, you know, missed, this cycle. So I basically just bumped things out a bit and, and I would be curious to know from like, Nathan's point of view and board point of view, like, are these deadlines reasonable?
So, you know, Nathan, if we agreed on like the assessment prompts today or shortly thereafter would March 1st give you enough time to complete your self-assessment and then, same as a board like would March give us enough time like by the end of March, to complete our individual assessments?
Nathan:
that's plenty of time for me.
Leah:
And then it would, you know, mimic the rest of the process.
We're in early April. you know, we consolidate that feedback. instead of work session, it would be special meeting, where we, Yep. And then kind of end of our. Yeah. I'm tired today, you guys. Oh.
Tera:
So just to be clear, if we do this approach, because we are not, you know, deciding anything in this meeting, would this be,
Because I think there was a gap. So would this just be for 2024 or would it be all inclusive from 2023? Yeah, 2023 and 2024. And remember when your contract technically, I mean, technically I don't think you ever had a review in. How long have you been in the position?
Nathan:
interim was August of 2022. Okay.
Leah:
So I guess that's a great question. I mean, do you have a preference, Nathan?
Nathan:
I you know, there's I think that, it probably makes sense to include kind of that entire time frame to some extent. To some extent. I don't know that I could go back and segregate kind of a year out, especially if I'm thinking in terms of like accomplishments and challenges and areas for growth.
I think that it would make sense to kind of encompass all of that. I wouldn't be as worried about trying to, like, contractually backdate all of that stuff. I think just in concluding that information in the review, you know, setting whatever changes or adjustments to the contract can be effective immediately as opposed to trying to figure anything out retroactively. There.
Leah:
And I guess in a similar vein, we haven't approved your contract.
Nathan:
Right. yeah. Yeah. Currently do not have an active contract. Can we wait until April to do that, or is that something we would need to consider before going through kind of this?
Paul:
What action item would you be holding off until April exactly.
Leah
It would be, approving his contract.
Paul:
at this point. We're already a little bit far afield. Yeah, it doesn't make a material difference. If you need to wait a month or two, that's that's okay.
Leah:
But your contract expired, right? Yeah. Correct. Is that is that a problem, like having an expired contract and waiting until April to approve a contract?
Paul:
I mean, no more of a problem than it presents right now. Yeah. I mean, it's okay. It's tough to answer that question. he's already operating under an expired contract.
Leah:
Okay. Oh, okay. So this is longer than I thought.
Nathan:
Okay. Oh, 2024. So the contract was set January 23rd, so it's been expired. Okay, so that from a like a legal standpoint, like that's not ideal,
Paul:
but it's from a legal standpoint.
You the district has been out of compliance with this for quite a while. fair enough okay. Yeah. So okay. So then if we want to go to the next piece.
James:
So guys, hang on one second. No, not yet before technically. I mean, and this is just up your alley. Is he an actual employee of the district at this point in time?
Paul:
Yes. He's. I didn't know I mean, yeah, I mean, he's he's actively employed with the district. you know, I don't know what implication you're thinking of right now, but, I mean, as far as really simple,
Nathan:
he acts in, in the capacity of a district manager. Yeah. And he makes decisions for the district in, thinking he better be an employee in the district.
Paul:
Yeah. So, you know, for example, if you were to make some decision of the district and somebody were to, to sue him or the district right for that. and they, you know, at that point, sure, you could have an argument that he wasn't acting within the scope of the district that would easily be dispensed with. he's going to these meetings.
You're addressing him as the district manager. He's not pretending we're paying him. You're paying him. So if I had to sit in a hearing in court and explain why he is the district manager, I'd be comfortable doing that.
Tera:
Has our name on the paycheck.
James:
I'm good with all that. I was just mainly thinking about indemnification and those kind of issues and and whether or not his butt's covered and then, you know, by association, ours as well.
Leah:
That's where I was going, Jim.
Paul:
Yeah. And a lot of that is addressed within the resolutions that the board passes, such as that annual administrative resolution they just passed last meeting. That is what covers a lot of this indemnification, you know, so for example, it applies to the district manager, may have a little bit of fight into what it is he a district manager?
Not. But ultimately, yes, I mean, he's performing the duties of a district manager.
Describer:
On screen: Proposed annual review prompts
• Performance against goals (Once goals are set)
DM: Reflect on progress toward the goals set at the beginning of the year. Highlight key achievements and areas where progress fell short.
Board: Evaluate the District Manager's progress toward established goals. Were key objectives met? Where was notable progress made, and where did performance fall short?
• Challenges & obstacles
DM: Reflect on progress toward the goals set at the beginning of the year. Highlight key achievements and areas where progress fell short.
Board: Identify significant challenges faced by the District Manager. How effectively were these challenges addressed? Are there ongoing issues requiring further attention?
• Key accomplishments
DM: Summarize major successes, initiatives, or improvements made that had a meaningful impact on district operations.
Board: Highlight the most impactful successes, initiatives, or improvements led by the District Manager that positively influenced district operations.
• Lessons learned
DM: Share insights gained from the past year that could inform future decisions or approaches.
Board: Assess how the District Manager adapted to new challenges and incorporated lessons learned into decision-making and leadership.
• Goals for next year
DM: Outline top priorities and self-improvement goals for the upcoming year, including any areas for professional development.
Board: Provide recommendations for focus areas and professional growth opportunities for the upcoming year. What should be the top priorities for continued success?
Leah:
Anything else on the previous slide before? Okay. okay. So these were the these were the prompts. I tried to keep them simple and high level. I favor more open ended, so that people can provide. I feel like it provides the opportunity to solicit, more honest feedback.
I do think for this initial rev where we're not following the normal cycle, I don't think we could really do number one since we haven't set goals, as a board or as a district. But for the following year, I think for sure we could do that. And it's more just making sure that we're really being thoughtful about performance against those, those goals that we set.
And then the other ones are just super high level, you know, challenges, accomplishments, lessons learned and then, you know, goals for, for next year. And a lot of times, at least with my work, those goals tend to be more like personal goals within a work setting and are usually separate than like the goals we would set as a business.
in, in terms of capturing the information, there's there's not a lot of like there's a lot of options out there are a lot of them, are we we would incur costs and, and so, you know, if that's something we want to explore, we can do that. I also didn't know if the HR firm that you sometimes consult with.
Tera:
What I was going to ask is of Mountain States Employees Council has.
Leah:
Yeah. Like like a some type of I mean otherwise we could gather in a very rudimentary way through like a Google form or a Microsoft form. you know, where you just type in the information and it's available to everyone and we can export it to spreadsheets, all that kind of stuff.
But, I feel like that's more of a Band-Aid.
Tera:
Yeah, I just what? I would like an actual some kind of actual form. I love this proposed process. The timeline makes sense. I like the proposed areas. I think those really are good. My one, you know, I guess, request would be that we do get some kind of formalized form or whatever, because that creates consistency and consistency to me as a big thing.
Nathan:
Yeah. I've got, meetings with our HR firm and mountain states, this week, mountain states to kind of just generally set up and, talk to them about where we're at and where we need to go. HR because we're bringing two new employees on, so I'll bring that up with both of them. I also have the review form that I'm not necessarily a huge fan of, that PCWRA uses.
and I can also get some other ones. Castle Rocks and Park are pretty easy to get a hold of, so I can kind of pull some various options together. And, we can look at if there's one we just want to fully adopt or if we want to amalgamate somehow.
Tera:
I mean, I don't think it'd be hard to make one that has this in there, but no,
Leah:
like for me, the, the form piece like, that's that's easy.
it's more like, what do we want to use, like a paid application to manage that. so for example, like my work uses workday. so everything is through that and you enter in your feedback and it's all and it's all consolidated, like on the dashboard. But I'm just saying like, I don't but if. Yeah, but actually like building out like a form to collect that type of information.
Like I could do that in two minutes. So yeah. Okay.
Jason:
Like, Paul would we be able to get a copy of Nathan's current contract? Thank you.
Leah:
So anything other than that executive session. Did I capture everything in the process?
Nathan:
yeah, absolutely. And then I can't remember the terminology that you use, but the the adjustments that you did make it kind of, I think you said, like, funnel up.
Were were great. I really, really like that a lot. It's, it can it seems like it's a lot better way to kind of capture everybody's opinions. So I really like this process a lot. I think it's great. Okay.
Leah:
Oh, yeah. Like in the original email, I think it was the board president or designee would actually rate the assessment and get, you know, they could gather input from the board informally, but I liked having it documented from each board member.
Tera:
Yeah, they do like that 360 degree because the board may not I mean, we don't interact with you all that often as much as the other,
Nathan:
but, I think a key component of that too is, that not a non-animal piece, right. So, you know, I've, I've done the I was a board president for the last year or so.
It was my responsibility to do Wes's review. and that was one of the things that we hit on really hard. And so I, I reached out to their, basically their district administrator and I said, hey, I want like three employees of varying lengths of service in different departments. I would like to speak with them directly.
And, you know, I took their comments, but their names weren't included anywhere. West has no idea who I spoke to, and I think, you know, however, the board wants to address that or pick different vendors. I think that anonymous component of that was really, really helpful in getting more candid feedback.
Leah:
this is a little more tactical, but when thinking about that 360 feedback, would we want to just leave it really open ended?
Like, what's your general feedback about Nathan? Would we want to have them follow these same prompts, or would we want to come up with like a set of different prompts for 360 feedback?
Tera:
I think, you know, same prompts makes it consistent, but also an open ended question is always nice, unless you think that the interactions with, because I like it because it depends on who those other outside entities are, whether they're in a vendor relationship or a, you know, a peer relationship or,
Board Member Jana Krell:
and these are really goals focused.
So I feel like that doesn't really apply to our vendors. I think it could be we could have a set of five or so basic questions.
Leah:
Yeah. Or it could even like where I work, we have really long and specific prompts for our reviews, but for 360 feedback, it's basically what does this person do that adds value? What could this person work on to you know, and it just super high level like it.
Jason:
All right. Very good. does that satisfy item number nine or item number five? I mean, I you're good. Okay. We'll close up item number five. And, thank you for all your hard work.
Tera:
Yeah. Thank you. This this looks good. I like the, you know, getting additional information or whatever before we see this at our meeting on Monday.
Jason:
So. That's very good. all right, we'll move on to item six. the expenditure and contract review discussion.
Nathan:
so on the agenda, you know, make a slight pivot here. I had originally had a conversation with Paul very specifically about one section of the financial controls policy. since then, I've had a few more conversations with Eric. There are just a few, a few things inside of it that don't really mesh well with each other.
And so what I would like to do is set up, a time with Eric to, really, I guess prior to the March board meeting to kind of go through and put a little a few red lines in and suggested changes just to make it, have a little bit more continuity. And I think the bones are really, really great.
I actually appreciate the policy a lot. I think that there's just, maybe some opportunities to make sure that the wording of the document lines up better with the intent of the board. I guess, I can a real quick, we have got to do something about this.
Tera:
I was going to ask if you could give us an example.
Describer:
On screen. RESOLUTION
DELEGATING AUTHORITY TO THE DISTRICT MANAGER
AND ADOPTING FINANCIAL CONTROLS
Section 1. Budgeted Expenditures
Section 1b. The District Manager shall notify the Board within 48 hours after executing
a contract for goods or services, or making any expenditures, that will incur
obligations in an amount between $25,000.00 to $50,000.00, when
aggregated. This requirement does not apply to capital improvement
projects.
1c. The District Manager must obtain prior approval from the Board for any
individual expenditure, contract, consultant contract, proposal, or purchase
that may exceed $50,000.00 in the aggregate. This requirement does not
apply to capital improvement projects.
1d. For expenses pertaining to capital improvement projects, the District
Manager shall notify the Board within 48 hours after incurring expenses or
executing contracts that will incur obligations in an amount between
$50,000.00 and $2,000,000.00.
Nathan:
Yep. Give me one second here.
and so one that we were talking about, directly, before the meeting. so item D for expenses pertaining to capital improvement projects, the district manager shall notify the board within 48 hours after incurring expenses or executing contracts. Will incur obligations in an amount between 50,000 and $2 million. And so, in item B, capital projects are specifically excluded, for the notice for the notification of the board within 48 48 hours after executing a contract for goods of service.
And so it really the way the to kind of reads right now is that, you know, I can execute contracts up to $25,000 from 25,000 to $50,000. I need to notify you guys above $50,000. I need to get permission. All of that makes sense. but then the way that the capital project one is, it really lines out that if it's a capital project under $2 million, I'm free to.
I'm free to approve that project up to $1,999,000 and then, let the board, let the board know below that mark. And so that one seems like there's, some pretty well defined controls for like, general expenses and daily expenses. But then it feels like to me almost like even too much leeway for me to be able to approve a contract for a capital project up to $2 million without bringing that to the board.
so kind of aligning those a little bit. What's that?
Jana:
I thought that that one specifically was. So if I recall correctly, the that threshold requires bids.
Nathan:
We don't have anything in the document about requiring bids.
Jana:
I thought there was something about the three bids and then under three bids, like if you only got two bids, there's nothing about bids in this? Oh, okay. Well, I think there should be.
All Speak:
We did have we did I read that one? I don't remember talking about it. Did you see that in here. Because that's the that was the way that we had the my experience.
Nathan:
Yeah I remember talking about it, but I don't think that was actually captured in the document. And that was kind of that like it's just things like small things like,
Jason:
I thought the 50,000 to 2 million was on an emergency basis,
Nathan:
for emergencies.
It just says that I can do whatever it basically says. I can do whatever it takes to fix the problem, notify the board of the projected costs, within 48 hours.
Jana:
where did this come from? The
Nathan:
this is the approved document from the meeting last month. That's what I was wondering. Okay. Yeah. And so really just kind of going through and kind of and making sure that, you know, if that's the and that's what I mean, like, I think the documents are really good and it's really, for the most part, really clear what the board's intent was.
I just want to make sure that that's codified and clear. And so Eric and I have been kind of talking through some of those ideas, and we just need a little bit of time to pull that together.
Jana:
I don't and I don't mean for us to go backwards, but I, I guess that was my expectation is that once you have three bids and over, then that's an item that's been budgeted for.
You've shown that you've gotten the appropriate amount. I thought we even talked about quotes like, if you have to show a certain amount of quotes before you spend, I don't know.
Nathan:
Yeah, we don't know. We had we had conversations about them. They just never made it into the actual document.
Jana:
So that's that's something again, I don't mean for us to go backwards, but I would like to see that there be some kind of, actual numbers of quotes required. So yeah. Bids, Yeah Bids.
Describer:
On screen.
Section 4. Board Approval for Real Estate Transactions. Purchase, sale, lease, or encumbrance of
real property or interests therein, except for temporary construction or access
easements necessary for the performance of District services must be approved and
signed on behalf of the Board.
Tera:
And then would you also look at, the item number four about, for real estate transactions doesn't make sense the way it's written because it says must be approved and signed on behalf of the board. It seems like something is missing. There.
Leah:
So I'm wondering. There weren't any other updates made, right, other than the red lines that we went over.
Correct? That's right. Okay.
Paul:
We could clarify number four just to to state that, you know, manager must seek board approval beforehand.
Tera:
There's nothing in there about approval. Just says it must be approved and signed on behalf of the board. Yeah. Doesn't say when it needs to be approved. It just certainly clear it didn't. The way that it was written didn't make sense.
Financial Director Eric Harris:
just a couple other things to add here. after going through the district's, bill pay process, if you will, the district does currently have, like a POA process in place.
We're not, well, large. I'll be operating on contracts, budget, appropriations, and of course, our accounts payable process and subject to our to every two week,
Jan:
we do or do not have a POA process. We do not have do not.
Nathan:
That's one of the things that we've been we've talked about implementing as quickly as practicable.
Eric:
And one of those things are, looking at system limitations associated with financial edge as well, and getting into this more.
Nathan, I've had several conversations about this. We've implemented probably 20% of what the package actually has to offer. We're essentially utilizing it as a general ledger. We have a separate billing system. There's a cash management feature. There's a full, you know, bill pay process built in. So potentially utilizing other apps associated with it for authorized actions and approvals, because right now we cut paper checks inside the office.
there's a couple improvements out of that. So one of the next things I will talk to you about is just the manual kind of report that we put together just to run everything through this filter as well. So, so Nathan, I will we'll get together and talk about this. So just basically my exposure over the last four weeks on how we would implement this.
There will be a process, but we certainly want to cover the intent and direction of your point, your board.
Tera:
Are you saying you can set parameters up within the financial payment system that these things would be kicked out?
Eric:
We would make it a requirement to set up that, an app, the system to do that as well. And so that essentially any sort of authorization or check would be delegated to the board for approval or a signer as well.
But there is some language in here. not only in regards to contact, contracts, but when a service is incurred. Is that Versus a check cut, or is that an invoice received or is a service incurred because of right now basically the bills do not get entered into the accounting system every year. They get entered every two weeks.
So we don't have that. And they come to either Susan, come to Nathan, they essentially get compiled in at some point, that's almost too late after the fact. So we want to make sure we implement the proper, process so that we can comply with the policy and the intent of the board.
Describer:
On Screen: the same document but Nathan will describe it.
Nathan:
one other quick example, and actually the one that was kind of the impetus for this, before we really started digging into it. so for, item item Well Yeah. So G is kind of where the carve out would be, but so item C, the district manager must have had approval from the board for any individual individual expenditure contract, consultant contract proposal or purpose purchase that may exceed $50,000 in the aggregate.
this requirement does not apply to any capital projects. And then there are limitations on that in item G. these limitations do not apply to expenditures necessary to purchase materials, labor, chemicals or items approved as part of a project contract approved and signed on behalf of board. I think that there's some room to kind of expand, some of or carve out some of the things that I don't really think we need to bring to the board for approval.
this very specific, specific example that came up for this one is our monthly electric bill is more than $50,000, which is something that, you know, we just need to pay. and so just, just some things like that, I think, you know, if we, we could add utilities. there's, we could talk about required maintenance activities.
a couple other things that we could just add in there just to augment it a little bit.
Tera:
So it sounds like there are some very valid enhancements that would make this better. And in the event that we come would review this in another month or whatever, how do you propose we operate in the meantime?
Nathan:
We'll do we'll just do our best.
And I think our well, whatever we're at, Eric and I have talked about is just being as communicative as property as possible. you know, when in doubt, will default to communication with the board. And then, you know, as we refine this and get the other policies in place in the PO system and take advantage of all the financial ideas capabilities over the next few months, we'll just get it, get it really, really dialed in.
And I think in the interim we'll just communicate a lot.
Tera:
And, I mean, because it seems to be some of the stuff that you've sent us, you seem to sort of be following this, proposed process anyway, even though it has yet to be approved in the board meeting. Okay.
Nathan:
So this this version. Yeah, this version has been approved.
Leah:
so we did that. We approved it at the last board meeting. Okay. Yeah.
Nathan:
So we're we're just going to follow it the best that we can with, you know, with the intent of the board in mind, and things, things like that. So like the capital project, for example, in the interim, you know, obviously if a capital project came up, I would obviously be seeking multiple bids, getting to three bids, writing out the justification, sending all of that to the board.
So just because it's not officially codified in here, we'll just take our industry knowledge and especially on Eric's experience, like, these are the things that we need to do to make sure that we're communicating well and getting our finances taken care of appropriately.
Leah:
Thank you. I would be really supportive of revisiting it in the next board meeting and making it more like applicable, especially now that we're starting to put it.
Sometimes you just don't know, right until you try it. and then I, I think I sent you a note, but just like the comms that you've been sending that I think are within that purview, like they've been really well-written, very much appreciated. So I just wanted to say thank you.
Nathan:
Yeah. And that's one of the conversations that Eric and I have had to is making sure while we look at this policy is like making sure that we are that that communication isn't like sporadic and overwhelming, like we really do want systems in place where every two weeks, here's the finance stuff.
We're looking at. and then, you know, emergencies and all that. We'll keep communicating on. But I think, I think there's great balance and I think there's a lot of opportunity. And I appreciate the feedback.
Tera:
Well done. And, Erica, I appreciate your, experience and, some of the stuff that we're seeing you. Of course. Thank you.
Eric:
So anything else, Nathan? no. Let me get to the end. I guess I didn't mean to exit out of that.
James:
I have a question. yeah. It's okay. Leah just said that next board meeting, which is really just a couple days away. I think we're talking about the following board meeting. Correct? Yep. The the March board meeting.
Yes. That's right. All right. Thanks.
Nathan:
It's terrifying that we're already talking about the March board meeting. All right, well, turn it over to Eric for the next agenda item.
Describer:
On screen. A large financial template which is a draft, with writing too little to describe.
Eric:
Excellent. So, with, you know, running the lens of the purview of what we have with the financial controls policy, with the transition that we have, going on with the finance, function.
I believe this is my fourth week as your finance director and moving to, a standardized work session format where you are actually reviewing certain bill pages and commitments, not approving them, but reviewing them in this work session and subject to your approval at this next and upcoming board meeting. There's several moving parts with this. So I just kind of ask for your grace as we work through this.
but what you have in front of you is a template I provided to Nathan. in regards to our last bill pay cycle, the bill pay cycle of the district, as far as claims that go out of the district's bank account and pay its bills, they have certain obligations that are on, you know, ACH withdrawal out of the district's operating, checking account.
certain things that have to be scheduled out and sent on to a trustee in the form of like, such as a debt service payment or directly to a lender. additionally, we have payroll. I mean, on top of that, we have, checks that are issued as well. I look forward to, over the next several months, kind of, taking just a few minutes out of every board meeting to review, certainly those functions, just so that the board has familiarity on the back office procedures and policies or procedures, rather of the district.
but for right now, this is, the control that we came up with, subject to kind of some, you know, prettyiing up, if you will, what this is, is, are the district's last bill pay run that occurred. guess that would be last, two weeks ago, approximately two weeks ago, on February 6th, and essentially running through the matrix as it's performed on the financial controls policy.
we don't have a system or the district doesn't have a system in place to kind of right now just perform that functionality like enter a bill pay, and then it goes to Nathan or bypasses Nathan and goes directly to a board member. We don't have that feature set up yet. We'd have to investigate and look at what that, you know, potential solution would be.
but there are other controls put in place right now. the district does, cut paper checks, but we maybe on some of these, we have to get dual signers as well, certain things that we can improve over time. But in lieu of that, I am working to coordinate with Nathan on the distribution of this document, in lieu of his communication so that, like he mentioned before, we're not peppering you for action items.
I know you all have day jobs, and so we want to make sure we're hitting you up. only one time per week, if necessary. At that time, at least from my perspective. so coordinating that. So this is the, product, if you will, that we just, we created and unfortunately, it is, manual product, but we will implement that as a component of our bill pay process.
Tera:
I like your proposed layout. How it delineates the section of your financial control policy. And it also says what action or what approval is underneath
Eric:
You are most welcome. So looking that this is more or less a short term solution, I am going to bring forth some, system improvements, if you will, or ideas with Nathan.
We've implemented some controls as meeting once a week to review kind of those issues. Those issues our challenges are mainly focused on this transition process. But there's certain things we've already identified. Right now we have a very large enterprise payroll solution, which is great. But the district right now only has two employees. So we need to look at simplifying that process.
I spent four hours walking through a payroll process for two employees. so we need to simplify. And I have ideas and solutions for that as well.
Jason:
Paul, have you been able to get information from Chris that you need?
Paul:
yeah. So I was going to touch on that. we received what I would consider our district document, two gigabytes of district documentation last Tuesday, February 11th.
So we have been working like, mad. And we are going to bring forth a budget to actual for December year end. with that, there was several, challenges. we had to reopen the books for a couple months to correct a couple of things. but all that being said, we will have a year end, a budget to actual for you and closer.
Any reports available for you at this upcoming board meeting?
Jason:
Well thank you. That's a lot of data to process. Yeah.
Eric:
You're most welcome.
Tera:
That made my head hurt.
Eric:
It was, nothing material, but it was just, as we were reviewing documentation, we just wanted to make sure we collectively, library, everything go through everything. There's a lot of, functions that this district does perform. And, we want to make sure it's taken care of.
So we are, in the middle of, I just received a budget actual today. And so I've been reviewing that. And so we'll get that into your board packet for this upcoming week. So a little bit of grace as we work through what's considered in this work session as far as a review standpoint, and then what's actually considered for approval at the board meeting, we're kind of implementing those processes right now.
any other questions on this particular document?
James:
I like it, appreciate it. it's like, you know, you said this is manual. It's not like conditional formatting or anything.
Eric:
We could potentially the challenge is we have to export it out of the system, and then we could build a macro as well. But we'd have to look at it's not that bad.
It took me a little bit more time just kind of going through that list. And so it should be fairly standard going forward.
James:
All right. I appreciate it. and you said we're getting budget actuals. The only other thing that would be really nice, but I would want to create more work for you. I don't know if this is implementable is and again, this need probably board approval and things like that, but is there an easy way and easy as you know.
Yeah. Very relative. But, one of the things that even if we get breakouts for utilities and stuff like that, you know, kind of like what Nathan was talking about, and it wouldn't have to be a, like, a permanent thing, but it would be nice to get a handle on what we actually are spending that are just, you know, hard bills that, you know, for the purposes of what we were just kind of talking about, if there's things in categories that we are spending every month or every quarter or whatever that time period is that we have to spend regardless just to keep the facilities running and kind of things.
It would be nice to know that. So we can sort of pre-approve that and get that into that document. you know, looking forward to be great to have that information. But I was really just looking for if you if there's a simple, easy way you can kind of generate that data and provide it back to us so that we can build it into the document so he doesn't have to do a notification for that kind of thing.
Eric:
Certainly. we we can make certain improvements on that. a lot of the controls over time, I've noticed with the district is we just implement a new chart of account to track certain things, whether it be electricity by premise or electricity by function. We could summarize that data as well, pretty easily. But some of the things that are, you know, enhancements, if you will, there's really not a uniform chart of accounts for a special district.
So it's really hard to manage that. We don't have a we don't have a project accounting. We have a pretty simple or the district has a pretty simple general ledger. But those are things that we can standardize. We we already do in some aspects. Payroll like is very simple to collectively pull out our payroll entries to, for approval.
so we will make those improvements or present those, proposed changes, if you will.
Nathan:
one of the other things that we've been slowly working on and we'll continue working on is even though we have that more simple, general ledger format is, further breaking those out. So rather than having so many like, large lumpy items, one that comes to mind is communications, right?
We have a lot of things get shoved into inside of that communications. And same thing with like water treatment is one that we've already added some codes we've just got historically have like water treatment plant. But then inside of that and once we've broken out our like our scada system so we're talking we're like hey, how much are we spending on electronic and controls components?
How much of that is chemical? How much of that is I can't remember. We've broken out a couple other ones, but we're also expanding those kind of like de-consolidating some of the the actual line items, too. So we have a, a more clear understanding of what those specific expenses are. Sounds good.
Eric:
Thank you. So, moving forward, we are on, one moment.
Describer:
On Screen.
Castle Pines North Metropolitan District Electronic Payments Report For the Period November 21, 2024 - February 14, 2025 PRESENTED FOR REVIEW, Eric explains it.
Eric:
Review of claims for the district since November 21st or 24th. I am conscious of the fact in the last board meeting I sat in, the board asked us, asked your consultant staff, why are you bringing me multi-million dollar worth of listing of invoices and claims? The best part is what we're doing here. We? The board has not considered claims since that date.
And that would be February, November 21st. There was no board meeting in December. And then January. We were in the middle of the transition. So these are all the claims for payment since that time that we would be I would be presenting to you for, ratification at this next board meeting, if you will. So I want to be I want to kind of walk through these and see if you have any questions.
I don't have the ability right now to convey, you know, budget variances with you because we are just in the middle of this transition. But what we can do is, you know, I don't know if the appropriate avenues go, you know, every couple pages or we can highlight a couple of larger expenditures, and then you could bring questions at the next board meeting as well.
Mainly just want to bring you the dollar amount, with you, the couple large dollar amounts, that are out there, the district did make its, semiannual debt service payment as well to JPMorgan Chase. And that December, first of that wire went out around Thanksgiving time. So that's one of those payments, that are listed. Of course, we had payroll during that time frame as well.
and then some of the utilities as well, when we say electronic payments that came out of the district's bank account, of course, payroll liabilities and things of that nature, as far as some of the other, larger items, you had a lot of capital project activity that happened during that time frame. A couple pay applications that Nathan reviewed and approved.
there were, several that you had your centennial capacity charge that was paid and that was a $400, capacity charge payment that went out the door, as well as numerous other capital fees as well. So you collectively kind of got to that large dollar amount, if you will. But from I can commentate a little bit more from budget variances at this upcoming board meeting.
Leah:
I don't know if this would be appropriate or helpful for anyone else, but I thinking through, especially for like our board meetings when we do the finance review. on this here, it's kind of like you have that disbursement summary. It would it would be helpful for me to see almost like a key insights summary. And maybe that's more like qualitative or like qualitatively explaining quantitative things if that makes sense so.
Eric:
yes, it does. So I will I'm actually in the middle of just writing your finance directors report to you in the board, and I can implement that as a component of, of a section of that report.
Leah:
I mean, would that be if it's only helpful for me, I wouldn't I wouldn't say spend, you know, time, but would that be helpful for anyone else?
James:
Yeah, it's been exactly what I've been asking for. Is or I mean, we've capital projects. We have authorized money for that capital project and month to month looking at this kind of this is better. And thank you for making it bigger. but you have no idea how we spent against those projects. You know what I mean? So, you know, to me, having.
Okay, we authorized a million bucks. We spent 400,000 already. We're expecting to spend 600,000 in time period X. That would be one step further, you know, but it would be nice to know out of each one of those major projects, what we authorized and what we spent and, you know, that's been, you know, trying to mine that out.
Is it possible, based on how it's presented?
Tera:
I mean, to a certain extent, I think budget actuals will point those things out.
Describer:
On screen. PLUM CREEK WATER RECLAMATION AUTHORITY MONTHLY ACCOUNTING REPORT December 2024 & January 2025, Nathan explains.
Nathan:
So, so this isn't the best example that I could pull up, but this is actually the board packet from Plum Creek Water Reclamation Authority. And the way that they kind of and they've got a lot less going on.
So this is a lot simpler for them. But they kind of have like one sheet that tracks like all of their ongoing projects. they kind of highlight any, you know, significant changes from the budget or any equipment purchases, things like that they get put in. And then that's just really it's just a line item on the on the board agenda.
So we just get to the financial disclosures. We asked them if there's anything specifically that the district manager there wants to highlight. And then they kind of go through those set items. is that kind of what you guys were looking at or am I, I just want to make sure that I've got an understanding of it.
James:
Me, me personally, I would love a CPI and, schedule performance.
Okay. You know, just seeing how we're aligning and, because sometimes what happened like even last year where we ended up moving things around at the end of the year and using money that was in the budget, but not for the purpose, because we we were looking at doing something down at the pump station. So we moved some things around.
But, again, you know, if we could even if we could just catch up on kind of what Tera was just saying, budget actuals. And if it was just a handful of those projects, like 5 or 6 project budget, actual need just broke them out. Kind of like he was just talking. That's enough. You know what I mean?
Tera:
I think, Eric has the pretty good grasp based on his experience in reporting and and getting caught up. So I'm before and we can't obviously, we're just having a discussion. We can't provide any direction in this work session, but, I'm kind of interested. It sounds like you've got I mean, you've been here 4 weeks. You're trying to do your best to, you know, ingest all of this data and get things working.
I mean, I think I would be interested in seeing what you bring to the table and then certainly if, in the board meeting, if we have any type of, you know, suggestions or anything, then, but I guess I'd like to I'd kind of like to give her the opportunity to, present before we, you know, give too much critique, I guess.
James:
Yeah, totally. We want to let it settle and you get caught up before we start asking for a whole bunch of extra stuff.
Eric:
But yes, I hear you loud and clear as a component. As I recall from my interview with you all, there was a request made for this particular type of reporting, and I hear you loud and clear on that, aspect of it.
And, mainly, you know, working up against multiple different deadlines and not using those excuse. We did just get access to all the documentation we needed to, perform your function last week. And so we are looking forward to, getting all that information to you to, create an appropriate review process of these.
So to close out this, are there any questions qualified with that remark that you have on the payables? and we can certainly go back and, research those if necessary. Nathan, I've already talked through a number of these, as well.
Tera:
Thanks. I did look through it in detail, but I don't have any questions. Appreciate it. Thank you.
Jason:
I don't have any more questions about that either. But, I do agree that we need to give you a little bit of time to go through this data. You've been dumped. So, thanks again for all your hard work.
Eric
you're most welcome.
Describer:
On Screen. Re: Expenditure Approval Request, Operations Staffing Contract.
Vendor: Semocor inc.
Contract Amount:
• Monthly contract amount of $28,740.00
• $85/hr. standard rate (8 am – 4 pm) for work outside the Scope of Services, as needed.
• $125/hr. after hours / emergency rate (4 pm – 8 am) for work outside the Scope of Services, as needed for on call.
Need and Purpose of Expenditure
Since 2022 Semocor has provided operations support for the District. We utilize this contract in lieu of having operations staff in-house. Under this contract they will continue to be responsible for:
• Operation of the district’s water treatment plant, wells, water distribution system, wastewater
collections system, and lift stations.
• Ensure that we meet or exceed all related regulations, testing, and reporting.
• Provide 24-hour emergency on-call support.
• Provide support for customer service calls, and meter reading on an as-needed basis.
Although not yet approved by the board, we do have two in-house operations positions budgeted for this year. An operations manager, and a field services technician. The contract has been modified to account for this change. Notably, the monthly operations management fee has been removed
Nathan:
All right, so moving on to, item six C then, so these are the contracts that I'm going to be bringing to the board for approval at Monday's meeting. I've got four of them to discuss. and one of the things that I'm looking to get out of this meeting is also this is kind of my first attempt at going through that process.
So, you know, what works? What doesn't work? There was, a little bit of challenge specifically with these ones, because they're not typically things that we have a lot of alternative options for. So these are kind of like repetitive in terms of like the justification and the nature of them. but here's the first one of these.
we did briefly talk about this at the last board meeting. the board wanted and I agreed a, more detail. so we did have will, redraft a contract for this year. That's, includes, Really, just like the scope of work and all of those things and a little bit more of a cost reason.
so the overall summary, monthly contract that they're proposing is $28,740. that is up a little bit from last year. in deference to, our bringing an operations manager on board, as well as, you know, pending board approval for those positions. but the operations manager and a field services technician, he did remove the $1,800 a month managerial fee that was on there.
and then we changed some of the language, around, the responsibility, specifically with meter reading. So instead of a core responsibility that's now listed as something that's as needed until we get that on, get that staff person on board and then they'll serve as backup. Sir.
James:
question I had at the bottom of this one was at the very end of it, on the contract or the the month it talks about the monthly contract amount.
Describer:
On Screen. Monthly Contract amount of $28,740.00 with a 2% annual increase and/or a review by both parties for increase, subject to annual appropriations.
$85/hr. standard rate (8 am - 4 pm) for work outside the Scope of Services, as needed
$125/hr. after hours / emergency rate (4 pm - 8 am) for work outside the Scope of Services, as needed for on call.
Nathan:
go up a little bit, I guess. You gonna go to the appendix? Yeah, yeah. and district shall be responsible to provide other operating staff and personnel that and just a little bit below what you're showing on the screen here. Compensation. you have the monthly rate there, and then you have a 2% annual increase and or by review.
I'm just struggling with one. We're talking monthly and then we're talking annual and then the end or review by both parties for increase. It sounds like it's an automatic 2%. And then it says and or and you know, I'm just not sure what that really means. And I'm kind of looking to our attorney to kind of walk us through what that actually means.
And if we want to.
Paul:
So you're right, this would be a 2%, automatic increase. That provision for review by both parties, could be for either a lessened or an increased amount. but if you don't come to an agreement on what that amount is, it would be 2%.
Tera:
You're just asking in this work session for our review of your proposed format to give us a little bit of time in case we are asking for more information for you to bring to us on Monday for us to approve these on Monday.
Nathan:
Correct? Yeah. So if this is, you know, it has reached a position where you guys are ready to make movement on it, motion on it.
If you need, change the format if there's additional information you need from the vendor or for myself.
Tera:
Thanks for the clarification.
Leah:
I personally think this is great. I think like the format is is great. And I feel like you did a really good job of keeping it streamlined, but providing the relevant information. so for me, for this one in particular, I was curious about how those two ops positions would impact, our contract with Semacor.
and like you addressed that in there. and then also just kind of like the why not the multiple proposals and the process that you originally went through. that was really helpful for me. So, that as I went through it, I personally didn't see anything, else that I would need in order to feel like I was informed.
Describer:
On Screen: XX. DISPUTE RESOLUTION / PROVISIONAL REMEDIES.
All disputes that arise relating to this Agreement which cannot be resolved directly by the parties themselves shall be subject to non-binding mediation. Either party may, upon written notice by such party to the other party ("Mediation Notice"), submit the controversy for resolution by non-binding mediation. The parties shall select a single mediator. If such non-binding mediation is unsuccessful, the parties shall be authorized to seek relief in the Douglas County District Court
Jason:
I got a quick question for Paul on, the Semacor on the, dispute dispute resolution and, dispute resolution and provisional remedies. Is it customary to go to non-binding mediation first? Is that something you guys are comfortable with?
Paul:
That's actually mostly what I see. a lot of districts prefer to opt into non-binding mediation, just simply because otherwise you're probably going straight into litigation and spending a lot of money on lawyers and court costs and if there's a if there's a way, you know, mediation is a pretty good success rate.
and I'm very comfortable with this provision. I think it's good. I like it.
Jason:
Okay. Great. Thank you.
James:
And one final on this one, I thought I saw it, and then I couldn't find it again when I read through this stuff, but, for Semacor and what they provide on a monthly basis, is there a list of personnel like, that's actually a sign there and and supposed to be there from 8 to 4 every day kind of thing?
Nathan:
so we don't have, I could get a list of personnel. Basically, every one of their operators spends time in the district at one point or another. so there's operators that we see more, we have Mark and Matt who are just names to you guys are up here the most frequently, but we do, make it a point to rotate all of their staff through.
And the primary reason for that is on call. We want them to be familiar with the system up to date with what's going on. I could certainly get a list and include that in here. Just so we know. Just so you guys have some familiarity with the names, but I think they've got seven eight now. They hired another operator, this past week that are in the district at one point or another.
James:
It wasn't necessarily that. I was just wondering is how many people we need in general for coverage, and are they assigned on a weekly basis, kind of like, you know, just making sure what we're paying for and what that relates to as far as people in the buildings and stuff and driving around that kind of thing.
Nathan:
Gotcha. Yeah, we basically have one operator in district, at least at all times.
and then we very frequently have to depending on an individual projects. So, you know, we've got the line break going, yesterday and today so that we obviously had more staff support for that than we normally do. But we do have at least one operator in district at all times. one of the things that I want to, but seek as an ability and, assign is a task when we do get an operations manager on board as I want, I'm really going to be looking for somebody that has a lot of familiarity with, like, staffing proposals and understanding, what those needs are.
And so I really want them to be looking at exactly that, like, are we get what is the performance level that we're getting from Semacor are we getting enough people here on time? Is that financially making sense? Compare that to what that would look like with bringing operations back in-house. So I think that there's definitely some more attention to be paid there.
Jason:
Piggybacking on what Jim just said. doing the math here, real quick on the 28,000 something a month, that's, roughly 84 work hours, that $85 an hour. So that's two people there for 40 hours a week. Is that what we're seeing?
Nathan:
yeah. Probably not. yeah. Like like I said, we've got one person here pretty consistently.
It's more rare when we've got to, and then something else to keep in mind with that is that, that that dollar amount also does not include those on call functions. So that's Monday through Friday I think the hours were 8 a.m. to 430, which they mirrored hours. But so for so outside of that, outside of that time frame, if we need somebody working here, then that hourly rate does kick in.
Jason:
Yeah, that's what I'm getting in. We're paying $84 an hour for 84 hours at $85 an hour. And you said so that would be enough for two people full time. Plus, on top of that, we're going to be paying over a overtime rate of $125 an hour. So if we're not seeing two people here at least every day during the week, then this contract is way higher than it should be.
Nathan:
Yeah. I don't disagree with you there. and that's part of, you know, going up in some of those breakdowns were included when, when we went back and talked about potentially bringing operations in-house. and then kind of just bringing two operating positions. And, but that was one of the things that was addressed. And there was really like the the comparison of bringing those staff members in fully 40 to 40 hours a week.
we would have really we would have had more man hours physically in district if we do move that in-house, than we did through an operation staffing contract. And this is really, kind of par for the course for operations staffing. I mean, there's, this isn't dissimilar from what Raymie environmental does or direct distribution or a handful of others.
Leah:
So do we need to get an updated monthly contract amount or. That's the rate. And we just don't understand why it's so high. I can also invite Will to come and talk to us on Monday too, if we if the board would like him to be able to answer those, direct those questions directly. And then I'm not having to be an intermediary and kind of make any guesses either
Jason:
Does the rest of the board Follow what I'm saying? I'm tracking. Yeah. So yeah, I think we need to, address him if he can make it. Yeah.
Describer:
Jason addresses the board off-mic with other board members nodding in agreement.
Tera:
It sounds like it'd be helpful to have Will on Monday.
Nathan:
All right. Are we ready to move on to, Kennedy Jenks?
Describer:
On screen. Nathan scrolls up and down, it is not readable. Nathan will explain.
Nathan:
Scroll through this here. so we had already, looked at this contract at the another again, we've looked at this contract at the last board meeting. The summary need for purpose is anybody if anybody has any questions on that, I think what the board had specifically asked for is, kind of at the end of this one though, which was just more of a designated cost breakdown.
And so he did, he being Greg Sekera was able to provide, the proposal fee estimate. And, again, these are kind of like estimated based on where expenses have been in general in these areas with our long history with Kennedy Jenks. But he did include a pretty a fairly comprehensive cost breakdown in terms of like where those numbers came from.
Leah:
I'd be curious. Like Jana, did anything stand out to you since this is the world you live in?
Jana:
No, but I couldn't. This isn't your job. To remind me, but I remember asking a question specifically about Kennedy Jenks proposal, saying, isn't that work we've already done? Like, isn't that work? but do you remember what I was regarding like this water treatment plant or something that I said?
Nathan:
Yeah. So this so, this is just the general engineering district, district engineer facts. And and so it's these are and like I said, these are kind of based on historical expenditures. So these aren't going to be exactly task accurate.
Jana:
Sure. but so services this looks totally normal. and then the rates are fine. So I don't but I do remember having a question, but I can't remember what it was.
I don't remember specifically. It's okay because the on call looks good. So.
Jason:
There's a lot of detail there. So thank him for that.
Leah:
I was going to say, if anything, I think we have a lot more detail than we need you. And in a good way, we should probably. Yeah.
Nathan:
I'll go back to Greg and tell him he did too much work, and he needs to cut half of it out of there.
Jason:
To, to use a crayon next time.
Tera:
We think our engineers would really appreciate that.
Nathan:
Greg is, also available for Monday's meeting. if you guys need him to come in. Otherwise, it sounds like this. I don't I don't see a need for, Greg to come for this one.
Describer:
On screen. From: Nathan J. Travis
To: CPNMD Board of Directors
Date: 2/19 2025
Re: Expenditure Approval Request
Vendor: QP Services
Total Amount: $134,400
Need and Purpose of Expenditure
We are required by the State of Colorado, and our insurance company to have a comprehensive maintenance and inspection plan for our wastewater collection system mains and manholes. This includes inspecting at least 1/3rd of our system annually looking for water intrusion, blockages, or compromised piping.
Starting last year we moved away from the traditional model of inspecting 1/3 of our system using physical cleaning and main line "TV" or sending a camera down each individual line and have moved to an acoustic assessment. This approach is approved both by the State of Colorado, and our insurance company. It can also be completed for roughly 1/3rd of the cost per lineal foot. Last year we completed inspection of our entire system at roughly the same total cost that we had been spending to inspect 1/3 of our system. We intend to do the same this year. With two solid years of full system analysis and inspections, for comparison we will likely revert to completing 1/3 of the system every year, to capture a significant savings.
Also included in the proposal is a manhole condition assessment and condition rating. Again, we did a full system inspection last year and intend to do the same today to allow us to compare any direct condition changes. Following last year's inspection, we identified and rehabilitated nearly 40 manholes. Doing another full system inspection will ensure that we capture this work, and provide a benchmarking base-line. This work will be reduced to fall in-line with our main-line
Nathan:
I'm sure he's had his fair share of board meetings this month already. Okay, the next one up for, review, then.
This is for QP services. this is another, wastewater maintenance contract. We have used this vendor for a very, very long time, 15 plus years. so the and I actually, this amount is going this 134, 400 is going to change before Monday's meeting. I was I had a meeting with, Jason, who is kind of our project lead over there this year.
So this budget line item was based on the work that we did last year, with this sewer rat acoustic technology, when he was going through and reviewing it, that's going we're going to do about I think it was about $20,000 more, which will adjust than we did last year, which is kind of sneakily a good thing.
So that is a result of us doing a full manhole evaluation last year, and we just got access to that much more of our wastewater system that we previously hadn't. So we're going to do more this year just because we fixed a bunch of stuff last year that lets us evaluate that, this expense is going to get after this.
Describer:
On screen: Item # Item Description Estimated Quantity Unit Unit Price Total Price
Item #1 MANHOLE INSPECTION MACP Estimated Quantity Unit 1,900.00 EACH Unit Price $21.00 Total Price $39,900.00
Item #2 SL-RAT ACOUSTIC ASSESSMENT Estimated Quantity Unit 270,000.00 LF Unit Price $0.35 Total Price $94,500.00
Total Price for above Items: $134,400.00
Total Bid Price: $134,400.00
Nathan:
And this also includes a full, get in here into the details a little bit more. so it's this, sewer acoustic assessment. This is the one we're going to add, the significant number of lineal feet to. And I have the, the email. I got it right before the meeting. and then the manhole inspection, this is to do a full manhole inspection on, every one of our manholes.
And so we did the same process last year. and this is really so that we have those first two years of comparative data, one with the new technology for the entire system into with all of the manhole rehabilitation that we did, we really want to have those baseline set for those two years. This contract has the potential to get reduced significantly starting in 2026.
historically, we've inspected, a third of our system using, kind of an old but very standard technology called TV jet and clean. So you physically clean every single sewer line, and then you physically send a camera down all of them. We historically did about a third of our district per year. doing a third of the district per year had the same cost, total cost as doing the entire district with the sewer rat manhole inspection technology.
And so we wanted to maintain that for two years, again, to kind of get those two baseline comparatives. And then after we do that, starting at 2026, we can revert to the old schedule that we have. So we can so we can go back to doing a third of the year, which will roughly cut this annual cost by 66%.
So a little bit elevated for this year. And then he's got the linear foot breakdown for this is linear feet of, wastewater sewer mains. And then the individual manhole inspections. And I do have kind of a fun, I can probably if I don't do it at this meeting, I'll do it an upcoming one where I'm going to bring in some VR goggles for you guys to try on so you can kind of see this, like, very cool technology that we've done with these manholes.
But does and so I'll have the adjusted numbers for Monday. Do you guys need any more detail or anything else that you need for this one before we approve or before I ask for approval?
James:
I just had a question. how does it actually work?
Nathan:
The acoustic. So there's the. rather than do that off the cuff and go into a long ramble, I'll, I'll get a concise summary written up and bring it to you guys on Monday.
Leah:
Okay. Appreciate. Yeah. Thanks whole ton. Hurrah! so again, thank you. This is great. I personally don't need anything. additional for Monday. This is me thinking a lot, but something to think about for the alternative. Means a lot of these are, you know, like, there are other people who do it, but we didn't look into it because, you know, these people are serving our needs, continuity.
And I get that. And that makes sense, at least for me. That alternative means is more just to make sure that the vendors that we're using are competitive in their industry. And so maybe something to think about in the future is just like that piece of due diligence of right, like, are we getting to a point where we're in a comfortable relationship with our vendors and then their prices keep going up and up, and we're just paying them because we continue to use them, at the expense of significant savings if they're not in line with, the industry.
Nathan:
Yeah. So maybe just a quick like, market comparison and reach out, see what other people are doing per lineal foot on for this one. This one's a little bit different because this is the only vendor for sewer rats. But like certainly for even like the engineering like kind of going and pulling some rate sheets just to make sure.
Leah:
Right. And part of that would be like for example, the engineering rates, like I'm not in that industry. And so I'm just like, Jana, are those rates competitive? And she's like, yes. And I trust that. and so I'm not thinking about anything really sophisticated or robust, but it's more just like, you know, this is in line with other firms who charge like this range.
Nathan:
Perfect. We can do that.
James:
Now, this 270,000 lineal feet, that's like 51 miles of pipe. That's what we have in town here in
James:
wastewater pipe. Yeah, yeah. And that that equates to 51 miles of pipe
Nathan:
or it does. Yep. Okay.
James:
So and then it sounds like next after this second go around. do they provide a report like pre and post like last year and this year coming up kind of.
Nathan:
Yeah we will. So we'll have a and this also feeds this feeds directly into our GIS system and our asset management. So we can actually go click on individual sewer lines pull up historical data gives us our pipe condition assessments which also feeds directly into the capital planning and project tool as well. So it's all it's all very, very connected.
That's one of the advantages with QP services. is they are in terms of just like the, the jetting clean, they have a very high technological capability. And so that's one of the things that distinguishes them is that, yeah, that a lot of companies can do this. Not a lot of them are geared to so seamlessly integrate directly into our GIS and Aim systems.
But yeah. So we'll have we'll have year over year comparisons.
James:
And next year we do a third of this and a third of it and a third of it after we get through this second cycle. Right. Correct. Yeah.
Describer:
From: Nathan J. Travis
To: CPNMD Board of Directors
Date: 2/19 2025
Re: Expenditure Approval Request
Vendor: Distribution System Resources
Total Amount:
• Estimated Cost for Flushing, Valve &Hydrant Maintenance: $125,248.60
• PRV, Airvac, and Valve Repairs to be completed on a T&M basis (cost schedule included)(non-excavation repairs)
Need and Purpose of Expenditure
This is a vital component to our annual water system maintenance, ensuring that we exceed all guidelines and regulations regarding distribution system maintenance:
• Flushing: done to maintain water quality, and prevent unnecessary build up of iron and manganese in the system
• Hydrant Maintenance: Ensures proper hydrant function for emergency use
• Valve exercising: Identifies problems with valves prior to use in emergency situations. Identifies damaged valve boxes, and valves that may have been lost or “paved over” during prior year
• Pressure Regulating Valves: maintain safe operating pressure to various neighborhoods
• Air-Vac: Remove air from distribution system to support water quality and clarity.
DSR will also be assisting us with an effort to continue to identify, and locate missing valves, and continue to get GPS coordinates for any that have not yet been found. This will be done in cooperation with the City of Castle Pines, Semocor, and our GIS software, AIMS.
DSR has been utilized by the District for system maintenance in these areas since 2015.
Nathan:
All right. So, the last one to go over tonight is distribution system resources. there is one thing. And in continuity here, that I'll adjust for the board meeting, this 125 is actually about 3 or $5000. lower than what we ended up with. and I'll pull that up. So, this one 3568, is, is much more is much more accurate.
Describer:
On Screen.
Projected Estimated Costs:
Blow-off each Cost $65.85 Quantity* 157 Total $10,338.45
Hydrant Maintenance each Cost $73.95 Quantity* 623 Total $46,070.85
Hydrant Painting each Cost $125.45 Quantity* 125 Total $15,681.25
Valve Exercising each Cost $39.85 Quantity* 1168 Total $46,544.80
Valve and Hydrant busy streets Cost $82.30 Quantity* 145 Total $11,933.50
Total Costs $130,568.85
Nathan:
And the thing that drove that $5,000 difference was, the number of valves and hydrants on busy streets. So when we're doing valve and hydrant maintenance, the ones on busy streets were required by the city to have, moving traffic control. And so that drives up some of that cost, which is not included, in the, major traffic control, which is engineer traffic control is a separate, expense.
And so this 130 is, is really just like kind of the baseline of what we're going to need to spend. So anything that we discover outside of that, valve boxes that have been hit by plows missing operation nuts on valves, damaged hydrants that need repairs is really, it's really difficult to forecast those because there's a number of things that can impact.
so this is really just like the baseline maintenance cost. And then the repair needed repairs are billed as these at these rates. Okay.
James:
The only one I was struggling with here is 125 bucks to paint a hydrant.
I'll take that contract. Yeah.
Nathan:
What's, the hydrant painting? One specifically. it's interesting you touch on that one. They hate doing it, but they're the only ones that will. And so there's legitimately no other. The, Dave and Ray or the the owners, the reason that they maintain that on there is like, every year they threaten that they're never going to do it again, but then nobody else, no other pipeline repair company, no other management company, because it's such a pain wants to do it.
And so they're very they're they're just like water guys to the core kind of the whole company is. And so they're like, well everybody needs painted hydrants. And so yeah, that's if you if you want it go for it. It is it is a pain. Share. My boring job.
Leah:
I bet that coating is expensive to buy. You don't want to paint it shut.
Describer:
On screen.
Time and Material Expenses:
Hydrant Repair $312.00 per hour
PRV/ARV/Flushing $312.65 per hour
Additional Flushing greater than 5 minutes per hydrant $312.65 per hour
Valve Box Repair $312.65 per hour
Opnut Replacement $925.00 each
Emergency Response $469.00 per hour
GPS $251.20 per hour
Engineered Traffic Control Cost plus 5%
Permits Leases Bonds Cost plus 5%
All Parts invoiced Cost plus 20%
James:
Just saying. We could probably get some high school kids to do it.
Nathan:
interestingly enough, we have tried that. my favorite thing that I ever saw was I can't. I came around the corner. We used to bring in summer help. we had a high school kid here one summer back in the day, and I came around the corner just to check on him, and he was literally laying on the ground, like, with his head facing the hydrant with a paintbrush.
Just like painting the hydrant upside down. Which, didn't make for a very good looking fire hydrant. that's that's what we have tried to, it's noted in there, but we have more serious now. We have tried to accomplish this function using seasonal help before, like a lot of districts have. The the reason that TWC well, now distribution system resources exists.
so Dave and Ray, and Zach were actually all employees of the town of Castle Rock. Every utility that I am aware of has struggled to get these functions done. It is a lot of time. It requires some specialized equipment. And so, Castle Rock, at the time, a years ago, had actually looked to try and find a contractor that would do just these functions.
there are a lot of people that are willing to do it. You know, Shannon, with emergency pipe repair is more than happy to come out and have a bunch of guys run around and spin valves. CML backhoe is willing to do it, but they don't have certified operators. They don't have any desire to really integrate that.
And so because they couldn't find anybody that did this, they just started a company that did. and so this is one of those where there really isn't a comparable company to look at. There isn't anybody else that is specialized. And so one of the things that helps, you know, the hydrant repairs at $312 an hour is an absolute steal.
It basically costs us $4,000 to make a phone call to get anybody else to do a fire hydrant repair. And so we're t donate. We're sorry. They change their name again. Where DSR draws the line is excavation. So they are intentionally keeping their overhead low by not buying excavating equipment. All of these, and there's a significant number of repairs that they can make.
And then if, they get to a point where it needs to be excavated, they turn it over to the district and then that's a handoff. So it really does help them keep their prices, their prices down. and they've had a lot of success. They do it for, Parker Water and Sand. They do it for Castle Rock.
They work for Boulder. They work for Inglewood. They work for Longmont. they have expanded, fairly rapidly. and they're they're doing really well.
Tera:
So would that because in the alternative mean section, is that the opportunity to kind of, present a sole source? think because like, all of the stuff that you just said was helpful and I don't know that I read read that in there, but
Nathan:
I don't know why my screen just went white.
Tera:
I mean, sound I think I like what you've done here, what you're presenting. I appreciate you following the framework. I think these are things that you may have, you know, that you probably or were already doing. But this, provides a lot of consistency and transparency for our, public. And we're conducting the public's business. So I do appreciate that.
And again, you know, those things that like you just to me, what I heard was a great, kind of a sole, sole source presentation. And I don't know if that would be any of those points would be appropriate to kind of carry forward for your alternative means.
Nathan:
yeah. So I just pulled this up and, whoops.
Describer:
On screen. Alternative Means
Staffing: managing these functions could theoretically be handled by internal staffing. We attempted to manage this in-house when staffing levels were at our highest, including the use of seasonal help. We were unable to complete these functions through this format, as we simply didn’t have enough manpower. Staffing to that level was and is unrealistic from an equipment and cost perspective. Due to similar issues, many districts have moved toward contracting this work. Parker Water, Town of Castle Rock, City of Boulder, Pinery, and many others utilize DSR for their system needs. As far as available contractors, while there are many pipeline repair and operations firms that will complete this work DSR is unique in that it utilizes certified operators and maintains a limited focus allowing them to keep their overhead down, and provide a superior service at a lower cost. DSR is also familiar with, and even assisted with the creation of the needed work flows to capture and track this work through our asset management system.
Nathan:
Too far. so what had written here is, I kind of went over some of the other entities that use them as far as available contractors. While there are many pipeline repair operations firms that will complete this work, DSR is unique in that they utilize in that it utilizes certified operators, maintains a limited focus, allowing to keep their overhead down and provide a serious, superior service at a lower cost.
DSR is also familiar with, and has even assisted with the creation of the needed workflows to capture and track this work through our asset management system. And so I did try to capture some of those points in there. Thank you. Yep.
Leah:
My hope is that this also streamlines our board meetings in the future. versus kind of going through each one of these like in the meeting.
you know, we have this information to read ahead of time, and then we can just zero in on specific questions in details.
Nathan:
Yeah. One of the things and, Eric and I have briefly touched about this that we can implement coming out of this work session where we present all this information. so like today, there's three of the four contracts that we, that's been indicated that you guys feel comfortable moving forward and going on to approve.
So we could add at the beginning of our board meeting what's called a consent agenda, which is basically like, you can put our minutes in there. There's all the stuff that you guys can see before the meeting. We could put these contracts in there, which is basically like, hey, here is the list of stuff we are ready to improve.
Let's approve them all with one sweeping motion, and then we'll talk about the same contract when Will comes in and or which everything that's been pulled out. But kind of utilizing that consent agenda is something we want to do.
Tera:
And you can always pull something from the consent agenda if you wanted to, discuss it. So if you felt comfortable that everything you know has been vetted and could be passed in one motion, but you could also pull out any item that you wanted to discuss further.
Leah:
Great idea, I love that. and just as a resident, to being able to see everything clearly articulated like it makes me understand, oh, this is why we're spending money the way that we're spending. and so it's a really helpful view, not just as a board member, but as a resident as well.
James:
Yeah. exact same thoughts as Leah
when I read this stuff, it was great. And it was easy to kind of digest each one of these contracts and what we're paying for and what we're getting in that kind of thing. So super helpful. And, I agree with the fact that we can do this more ahead of time. And then the board meetings in this year, we can bang through it a lot quicker.
Jason:
On that note, I think that concludes tonight's meeting. We will, close out that section and we will adjourn.