REGULAR BOARD MEETING
December 28, 2020
The Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees of Newberry Electric Cooperative, Inc. was held in the Newberry Electric Cooperative, Inc. Board Room located in Newberry County, State of South Carolina on Monday, December 28, 2020 at 5:31 pm. Chairman Johnnie L. Dickert presided.
Trustee Douglas Hipp attended through Webex. After the call to order, invocation, and establishing members present, staff members Arthur Guy, Leann Hutto, Debra Shaw, and Nick Shealy presented their anticipated department budgets for the 2021 year. After some discussion, Trustee William Lominick made a motion to accept the budgets as presented. The motion was seconded and passed without opposition.
Trustee C.J. Bishop was recognized for 30 years of service, and Trustee Leon Fulmer was recognized for 5 years of service on Newberry Electric’s Board of Trustees.
Trustee Craig Kesler made a motion to approve the Regular Board Meeting minutes from November 2020 as emailed. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
Trustee Melanie Hawkins made a motion to approve the Membership & Public Relations Committee Meeting minutes from December 2020 as emailed. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
Finance Committee Chairman John Wayne Nichols reported that the Finance Committee met on December 21, 2020. They are submitting the finance report as information. The consensus of the Board was to accept the report.
Attorney Thomas Pope stated that he did not have an Attorney Report at this time.
President and CEO G. Keith Avery reviewed his activity and meetings for the month.
He attended the Annual Meeting for CarolinaConnect. The Town of Prosperity has expressed interest in connecting with CarolinaConnect. A Samsung supplier is looking for space in Newberry.
President Avery reviewed in detail the financial and operational data for November 2020.
The amount of write offs for November is $1,203.71. Trustee Craig Kesler made a motion to
accept this amount. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
President and CEO Avery reviewed the Engineering and Operations, Operational Support, and IT reports for the month. Engineering is working on the blinking lights issue. Covid-19 precautions are still being taken. NEC is hoping to be able to receive some of the fiber grant money that is available through the ORS.
President Avery informed the trustees that the Legislative Reception scheduled for February 16, 2021 has been cancelled.
The Trustees reviewed the information to appoint the 2021 NRECA and NTCA Annual Member Business Meeting Voting Delegate and Alternate. The voting will take place virtually on March 4, 2021. After some discussion, Trustee Lominick made a motion to keep President Avery as the delegate and Trustee Nichols as the alternate. The motion was seconded and passed without opposition.
President Avery reviewed information for the 2021 NRECA PowerXchange (Annual Meeting) and Tech Advantage conference. It will be virtually February 24-25 and March 3-4, 2021. Trustees interested need to let Deirdre Murphy know.
President Avery referenced a letter from the Office of Regulatory Staff stating that Newberry Electric is in compliance with S.C. Code Ann. 333-49-615.
The 2021 Newberry Electric Annual Meeting is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, April 7. A Nominating Committee and a Credentials and Elections Committee are needed to oversee these meetings. After some discussion, Trustee Lominick made a motion to contact the same committees from last year to see if they would be able to serve. The motion was seconded and passed without opposition.
There being no further business and without objections, Chairman Johnnie L. Dickert
adjourned the December 2020 Regular Board Meeting at 7:30 pm.
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SECRETARY APPROVED
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CHAIRMAN