REGULAR BOARD MEETING
March 27, 2023
The Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees of Newberry Electric Cooperative, Inc. was held at the Newberry Electric Cooperative, Inc. located in Newberry County, State of South Carolina on Monday, March 27, 2023.
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Johnnie L. Dickert at 6:30 p.m. followed by invocation with the determination of a quorum present.
The secretary reported that the following Board Members were present:
C.J. Bishop Leon Fulmer Craig Kesler
Blake Brigman Melanie Hawkins William Lominick
Johnnie Dickert Doug Hipp John Nichols
Also present were President and CEO G. Keith Avery, Attorney Thomas H. Pope, III, and Executive Secretary Deirdre Murphy.
The Board dispensed with the reading of the minutes of the February 27, 2023 Special Board Meeting. A motion was made by Trustee Kesler to accept the minutes as emailed. The motion was seconded and passed without opposition.
The Board dispensed with the reading of the minutes of the February 28, 2023 Regular Board Meeting. A motion was made by Trustee Hipp to accept the minutes as emailed. The motion was seconded and passed without opposition.
Committee Chairman John W. Nichols reported that the Finance Committee held its regular meeting on Monday, March 20, 2023. The committee members are Trustees C.J. Bishop, Johnnie Dickert, William Lominick, and John Nichols. All were present including President and CEO Avery.
Chairman Nichols reported that the Finance Committee reviewed cash disbursements for February 2023. All expenditures were found to be in order, and the committee is presenting this report as general information. The consensus of the board was to accept the report.
Attorney Thomas H. Pope, III stated that he did have an Attorney’s Report and requested that the meeting adjourn into Executive Session. Trustee Hipp made a motion to go into Executive Session. The motion was seconded and passed without opposition. Chairman Dickert adjourned into Executive Session.
After updates from Attorney Thomas H. Pope, III, Trustee Hipp made a motion to reconvene into Regular Session. The motion was seconded and passed without opposition. Chairman Dickert reconvened the meeting into Regular Session. There were no actions and no voting acted upon during the Executive Session.
President Avery reviewed the functions and activities he attended or participated in during the month of March.
President and CEO Avery reviewed in detail the operational data for February 2023. The amount of write offs for February is $2956.70. A motion was made by Trustee Hipp to accept this amount. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
President and CEO G. Keith Avery reviewed the Engineering and Operations and Operational Support reports for the month. Engineering has continued to work on updating substation and recloser settings per the sectionalizing study. All AMR communication equipment has arrived. Line construction is running about two weeks behind on new installations due to the weather, and have obtained the ROW for the Broad River Rd. relocation and for Browns Chapel Rd. EZ Blockchain continues to run at constant load and are working to design the Kiswire site. Safety and Training has completed the annual Dielectric testing on tools and equipment.
President Avery stated that there were 5468 CarolinaConnect accounts billed in February.
President and CEO Avery referenced information on the NRECA Washington Legislative Conference to take place in April. Four trustees, along with President Avery, will be attending.
President Avery reviewed an email from Adena Ohanesian, Education and Events Coordinator at ECSC, on the ECSC Trustee Association Conference to take place in May. Five trustees expressed an interest to attend.
President and CEO Avery referenced information on the 2023 ECSC Summer Conference to take placed in June. Five trustees have expressed an interest to attend.
President and CEO Avery reminded the trustees of the CEE-US and Line Equipment Trade Show on March 29. Five trustees stated they would attend.
The Central Electric Power Cooperative March 13 FAR Committee Meeting, the Central Electric Power Cooperative March 13 Special Called Power Committee Meeting, the Central Electric Power Cooperative March 14, 2023 G-20 Meeting, and the Central Electric Power Cooperative March 2023 Annual and Board Meeting summaries were all accepted as information.
President Avery reminded the trustees that the Regular Board Meeting date in May falls on May 29, the Memorial Day holiday, in which the office will be closed. Trustee Kesler made a motion to move the meeting to Tuesday, May 30. The motion was seconded and passed without opposition.
President Avery referenced the Federated Insurance Rerate documents and invoices. After some discussion, the trustees tabled this topic until the May meeting to get more information before finalizing the invoices.
Chairman Dickert presented Trustee Melanie Hawkins with her NRECA Director Gold certification renewal, and he also presented Trustee C.J. Bishop with an Outstanding Service Award in recognition of his years of service on the Newberry Electric Cooperative Board of Directors. Mr. Bishop is resigning from the Board after 33 years of service.
There being no further business and without objections, Chairman Johnnie L. Dickert adjourned the March 2023 Regular Board Meeting at 7:45 p.m.
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SECRETARY APPROVED
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CHAIRMAN