Board
Meeting
August 27, 2002
T
he August meeting of the board of directors of
Salem Electric was called to order at 7:00 PM by President
Bonesteele. Board members present were Bonesteele, Dyer,
Anderson, Beach, Berger, and Ennor.
Motion
was made by Anderson, seconded by Beach and carried
unanimously to approve the meeting agenda.
On
a motion by Ennor and seconded by Berger, the Consent Calendar
was approved.
Member
Services Manager Terry Kelly introduced Francisca Tapia, who
will be the Leadership Youth representative on Salem
Electric’s board for the upcoming school year. Tapia shared
that she is a senior at McKay High School and plans to attend
Willamette University next year and eventually wants to become
a lawyer. The board welcomed her.
Jack
Belleque, Administrative Services Manager, reviewed the budget
process and announced that work is underway on the 2003
budget. He said the process normally takes about four months.
Roger
Kuhlman, Engineering and Operations Manager, provided an
update on the Last Mile Electric Cooperative (LMEC). There was
discussion on the recent Request for Proposal sent out by the
LMEC, which included requests in four areas: location, price
of the site for wind generation, partnership and joint
venture, and power purchases.
Kuhlman
also reported that our Environmentally Preferred Power
contract with the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) will
expire in 2003. The provisions of our contract with BPA allow
us to seek up to three megawatts of renewable power without
jeopardizing our full requirements status.
Member
Services Manager Terry Kelly reported on our water
conservation efforts. To date, the program has reached over
2,700 homes for a savings of 900,000 kWhs. Kelly stated that
most homes in the cooperative’s service area have taken
advantage of free water heater wraps and shower heads.
General
Manager Bob Speckman discussed a request from Oregon Rural
Electric Cooperative Association (ORECA) to consider a
donation to their political action committee. After much
discussion, the board declined the request.
Berger
brought up the issue of candidate endorsements and asked if
there should be a process for making endorsements. Speckman
said legal counsel has advised that Salem Electric should
avoid direct political activity and fundraising, as those
activities could potentially cause the cooperative to lose its
tax-exempt status.
Following
a brief discussion, the consensus of the board was that
political endorsements are not appropriate for Salem Electric.
However, Salem Electric’s board will make the statewide
cooperative association, ORECA, aware of its preferences
regarding ORECA’s support of candidates, when appropriate.
The board adjourned at 8:42 pm
Jeff Anderson
Secretary/Treasurer
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As a senior in
high school, I’m honored to be serving on the Salem Electric
Board of Directors. After having completed my first year in
Leadership Youth with the Salem Chamber of Commerce, a year of
learning about our community, I was privileged to be able to
help out with our community service project at the YMCA.
Just like I helped the community, I intend to be
of help to the board. I hope to understand most of what’s
happening during the meetings and to be a constructive
contributor at the meetings. During my first experience with
the board, I was lost during many portions of the meeting.
Terry Kelly, my contact person, tried to explain some of the
things to me being discussed as the meeting was taking place.
Some of the directors, including my mentor, Alicia Bonesteele,
talked to me afterward and explained things a little more.
Everyone was very kind to me and they made me
feel as if I were at home. One of the characteristics that I
really like in the people I met is a sense of humor, of which
the directors have plenty. I have very much to learn from them
during these months; especially more knowledge that I know is
going to be very useful to me in the future.
Francisca Tapia
Leadership Youth Representative
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