WEBSTER COUNTY, KY (1/18/12) – “We’re going to have to keep an eye on it,” Webster County Water District Superintendent Paul Lashbrooke told the Webster County Water District board at its meeting last Thursday, referring to the district’s insurance costs and how it affects the district’s annual budget.
Water District board chairman Jimmy Frederick asked Lashbrooke if the board should advertise bids for insurance contracts, to which Lashbrooke answered that is something he is working on for the board to consider later this year. In the meantime, the board approved the conventional policy with the 10.7 premium increase.
Lashbrooke also noted that the agreement eliminates a third-party administrative fee.
In other business, the board discussed concerns some customers had had with premature bank withdrawals for payments on their accounts. Lashbrooke said the early collections were due to the district moving its accounts from Old National Bank to Independence Bank. District officials said that in the past, district employees had requested payment on the due date, but that the new bank processed the withdrawals on the day they were actually requested instead of on the date set as part of the request, which was supposed to be a few days later. Officials said the district staff was working with the bank to resolve the issue, and that it wasn’t expected to happen again.
Earlier in the meeting, Lashbrooke updated the board about an ongoing interconnect project with several surrounding water districts. He said one of the three fiberglass buildings, the one that houses the equipment connecting Webster County and Crittenden-Livingston counties water district lines together has been installed. Two other buildings, one between Webster and Henderson counties and the third between Webster and Union counties, should be in place within a few months. Before those pre-fabricated buildings can be installed, duct line and gravel work must first be completed.
A budget review for the 2011 fiscal year was presented to Webster County Water District Commissioners at the Jan. 12 meeting as well. According to the report, the district spent about 83 percent of its estimated $1.095 million dollar budget, or just more than $910,000. The largest expenditure, at more than 108 percent of the budget for that category, covered the cost of purchased power. The district budgeted almost $98,000 for that expense but spent more than $105,000 on it for the entire year. In an average month, the district spent almost $76,000, with the highest monthly payouts in July with $89,149 and December with $86,476.
For the entire year of 2011, the district produced more than 382.2 million gallons of water, down about 10.1 million gallons over the same timeframe in 2010.
For the month of December 2011, the Webster County Water District produced more than 28.6 million gallons of water and had 249.5 production hours.
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