Board Spotlight: Board Reviews Key Ratios, 2021 Capital Budget
A regular meeting of the Board of Directors of SEMO Electric Cooperative, Inc., (hereinafter referred to as “Cooperative”) was held on Monday, October 19, 2020, at the office of the Cooperative in Sikeston, Missouri. The following Directors were present: Richard Faulkner, Butch Dirnberger, Carl Eftink, Dennis Fowler, Myron Hawes, James Deneke, Carla Moore, Keith Haynes, Dicky Hanor, Tim Coppage, John Bledsoe, and Hamil Corse. Directors absent: none. Also present were Sean Vanslyke, CEO/General Manager; Megan Ray, General Counsel; and staff members Becky Ivester (via Zoom), Loyd Rice (via Zoom), Angie Byford, Amanda Burnett, Chris Freed, Marty Vineyard, Ron Montgomery, Dannett Cooper, and Brad Milam. The meeting was called to order at 1:07 p.m. by President Faulkner. A prayer of invocation was offered by Angie Byford. The chair asked for approval of the agenda. On motion made, seconded and passed, the agenda was approved.
The Board considered its consent agenda consisting of: the minutes of the regular meeting of September 21, 2020; new membership applications; membership cancellations; initial review of Policy 228, SEMO Electric Cooperative’s Service Award Program; and initial review of Policy 230, Employee Identification Badge Policy. Montgomery presented the monthly safety report. He shared information on the monthly safety focus of concussion signs. He also reviewed a recent Missouri Electric Co-ops Insurance Plan inspection with the Board. Following his report, Montgomery left the meeting. Bobbi Jeffries of the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC) presented (via Zoom) the cooperative’s Key Ratio Trend Analysis (KRTA) for the year. CFC has published KRTA, an annual report that tracks the median value of 145 financial and operational ratios for participating electric distribution cooperatives over the previous five years, since 1975. Based on unaudited data reported by electric distribution cooperatives, KRTA provides electric cooperative CEOs and directors/trustees with a complete picture of their system’s financial performance. CFC is the cooperative's lending partner. Following her report, Jeffries left the meeting. Burnett reviewed the financial summary for the month of September 2020 with revenue and expense analysis, budget comparisons, and a review of the arrears report. Compared to budget, year-to-date expenses are down 6.8%, revenue is down 2.01% and power costs is down 4.07%.
Haynes reported on business from the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives’ (AMEC) board meeting. Items of interest included: committee reports and the annual meeting. On motion made, seconded and passed, the Board resolved to approve the AMEC Report. Under old business the Board: reviewed its schedule of meetings; Policy 226, Benefit Accruals for Non-Union Disabled Employees, was affirmed as presented; and Policy 227, Medical Leave Sharing Plan was affirmed as presented. Under new business, Milam reviewed the Cooperative’s 2020 Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc., (AECI) Load Forecast. On motion made, seconded and passed, the Board resolved to adopt the 2020 Load Forecast Study. Burnett presented a 2021 Capital Budget draft and presented information for 2021 rates. Freed provided information on an updated fiber release agreement with GoSEMO. After discussion, on motion made, seconded and passed, the Board resolved to terminate the current GoSEMO Fiber Lease and to execute the revised GoSEMO Fiber Lease as presented.
Ivester presented a subscriber update. Rice provided information on fiber sales. Milam provided an update on fiber installation and Freed provided an update on construction. Vanslyke reported on SEMO 360 activities. The board reviewed written staff reports. Department leaders were present to supplement their reports and to answer questions. The remaining staff members were excused from the meeting. Therefore, the Board entered into Executive Session to discuss personnel matters. Following Executive Session, the Board resolved to adopt the staff salary revisions as recommended by the Personnel Committee. There being no further business to come before the Board, on motion made, seconded and passed, the meeting was adjourned at 3:55 p.m.
