No Explanation for President’s $800+ Bill
JENKINSVILLE (April 8, 2016) – A major water leak, an unannounced special called meeting and an unauthorized trip costing more than $500 by the Board President set the stage for the regular monthly meeting of the Jenkinsville Water Board on Monday night.
Opening the meeting, vice-president Joseph McBride, acting as president, announced a major water leak was in progress on Buckhead Road and that President Gregory Ginyard was at the site assessing the situation. During a later water production report, a leak was also reported on Candy Lane.
The Board approved the minutes of a special called meeting that was held on March 16, for which no notification had been provided to the public or the media. During Board Member comments at the end of the meeting, Board Member Tangy Jacobs said the purpose of the March 16 special called meeting had been for the Board’s CPA (Yvette Jones) to discuss the February 2016 financial statement with the Board Members and that the meeting had lasted two hours.
When asked by The Voice after the meeting why the March 16 meeting had not been open to the public, Ginyard, who had arrived back from checking on the Buckhead Road water leak, said it was all held in executive session. When asked by The Voice how the state’s Freedom of Information Act provided for the financial statement to be discussed in closed session, Ginyard answered, “We had some stuff with the CPA.”
The Board’s secretary, Amanda Metz, said, “She (Jones) was teaching us how to read the financial report.”
During a review of the company’s February 2016 profit and loss statement Monday night, Board Member Leon Thomas questioned two expenditures for Ginyard– $634.88 for a hotel conference and $200 for meals.
“The check is dated March 17,” Thompson said, asking for additional information about the trip. “Was it a one day or two day (conference)?”
McBride said he didn’t know anything about the charges. A former Board member told The Voice that the Board previously voted that all travel expenditures over $500 had to be approved by the Board.
“Actually,” McBride told Thomas, “I couldn’t tell you what this is for. I don’t know.”
The Board unanimously approved the financial statement.
Following the Monday evening meeting, The Voice asked McBride for a copy of the financial statement.
“I’ll have to see if you can have one,” McBride said, holding several copies of the statement in his hand, but not offering one to The Voice. McBride did agree to write down the contact information for The Voice.
In other business, McBride read the water production report, stating that of the 4,902,690 gallons of water sold by the water company in March, 1,205,000 gallons were purchased from Mid County Water Company, with no further explanation of what necessitated that purchase.
During public comment period, water customer Dee Melton asked, for what he said was the third time, why the Board continued to not give him an answer about a request he made months earlier for a water leak adjustment on his water bill. Melton said an adjustment is customary for members who have not had an adjustment in the previous 12 months, which Melton said he had not had. McBride said the Board would get back to him (Melton).
Melton also asked why the Board’s water leak reports no longer included estimates of how much water is lost during leaks.
“We’ve never done that,” McBride answered.
“According to your past minutes, you used to do that,” Melton said.
“We’ve never done that,” McBride insisted. “We can’t tell how much leaked.”
“By telling us, ‘We billed this amount of money for water, we produced this much water,’ then you can estimate your storage and your losses,” Melton said. “Then you’ll know where the water is going.”
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the water board is Monday, May 2.
