REGULAR BOARD MEETING
May 26, 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, May 26, 2020 at 6:27 pm. The meeting was also able to be viewed on Webex. Chairman Johnnie L. Dickert presided.
After the call to order, invocation, and establishing all members were present, Chairman Dickert made a motion for an Executive Session. The motion was seconded by Trustee Doug Hipp and passed without opposition. President and CEO Keith Avery and Executive Secretary Deirdre Murphy were asked to leave the meeting. Trustee Craig Kesler made a motion to return to Regular Session. It was seconded and passed without opposition. President Avery and Ms. Murphy returned to the meeting. From the discussion during the Executive Session, the board decided to freeze President Avery’s salary in lieu of exploring the price of a membership at a neighboring course.
Trustee Hipp made a motion to approve the Regular Board Meeting minutes from April Regular Board Meeting as emailed. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
Finance Committee Chairman John Nichols reported that the Finance Committee met on Monday, May 18, 2020. All members were present, and they are submitting the finance report as information. The consensus of the Board was to accept the report.
Attorney Thomas Pope did not have an Attorney Report.
President and CEO Avery reviewed his activity and meetings for the month. He also informed the Board that Samsung has expressed an interest in expanding their plant. President Avery also stated that Congressman James Clyburn has been extremely helpful in getting grants for Coops to help with getting Broadband internet to the rural communities. President Avery reviewed in detail the financial and operational data for April 2020. The amount of write offs for April is $3,768.82. Trustee Hipp 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. There is no in person training taking place at this time. Classes that can be taken on line are being done.
Crews are working ten hours a day and four days a week. They consist of a five-man crew and a bucket truck. Some are off on Fridays, and the others are off on Mondays.
President Avery referenced a discussion about revisiting the 2020 budget. After some discussion, the consensus of the board is to have the revised 2020 budget presented at the June meeting.
Because of COVID-19, the 2020 ECSC Summer Conference has been cancelled. Any trustee interested in taking the class that was going to be offered can do so on line. The class will be two three hour sessions over two days. This was accepted as information.
The Central Electric Power Cooperative May Power Committee Meeting Summary was accepted as information.
The Central Electric Power Cooperative May Board Meeting Summary was accepted as information.
A proposal from Living Water Foundation Community Garden and Wellness Park in Prosperity, SC was sent from Renee Martin. After some discussion, President Avery agreed to bring more information on the proposal to the June meeting.
There being no further business and without objections, Chairman Johnnie L. Dickert adjourned the May 2020 Regular Board Meeting at 8:30 pm.
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SECRETARY APPROVED
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CHAIRMAN