MINUTES OF THE 2019 MEETING

Boone Electric Cooperative Annual Meeting of Members, July 12, 2019

 

The 82nd Annual Meeting of Members of Boone Electric Cooperative, hereinafter referred to as “Cooperative” was held at the Battle High School, 7575 E. St. Charles Rd., Columbia, Missouri, on July 12, 2019.  Registration began at 4:30 p.m. and continued until 6:30 p.m.  Members of the Sturgeon Christian Church, Harrisburg High School 2020 Senior Class, and the Ashland FFA served dinner.  

The members were welcomed by Manager of Member Services Laura Baker, who held drawings for prizes. She informed the audience that the show for the family entertainment Babaloo was starting in the auditorium.

Reverend John Gillman of the Harrisburg Christian Church gave the invocation. Director Wayne Wilcox led the Pledge of Allegiance, and Christina Cox, daughter of members Norman and Maria Cox, led the audience in the National Anthem.  

The meeting was called to order at 6:45 p.m. by President Joel Bullard.

President Bullard welcomed attendees and thanked all the Veterans that have served our country. President Bullard then introduced CEO/General Manager Todd Culley. Mr. Culley introduced current Directors and their spouses, as well as employees of the Cooperative.  President Bullard then introduced employees who received Highline Awards. After presentation of the awards, President Bullard called on Mr. Culley to welcome special guests.

Andrew Sporleder, attorney for the Cooperative, stated that the Cooperative had 877 registered members present, constituting a quorum for the transaction of the Cooperative’s official business at the 2019 Annual Meeting.

As the notice of the meeting was mailed to all members, Secretary Frank Glenn called for a motion to dispense with the reading of the notice. On a motion duly made, seconded, and unanimously approved; the reading of the notice was dispensed.

President Bullard stated that the minutes of the 2018 Annual Meeting of Members had been printed in the Annual Report, and called for a motion approving them as presented. On a motion duly made, seconded, and unanimously approved; the minutes of the 2018 Annual Meeting of Members were approved as presented.

President Bullard asked Brandon Glascock, Chairperson of the Nominating Committee, to give the Committee’s report. Mr. Glascock stated that the Committee had nominated Wayne Wilcox and Kevin Smith from District 1; Robert Buffaloe, Michelle Motley, and Louis Van Drie, Jr. from District 2; and Kim Ponder and Kelli Jo Buettner from District 3. 

President Bullard appointed members Marvin L. Hilgedick, Layanna L. Kinkade Bohlmeyer, Joshua S. Dunn, Larry Pauley, Connie Brissette, Ronald G. Lueck, Kathy L. Gay, and Kimberly Mabrey to act as election judges at this year’s election of directors. Attorney Sporleder was then called forward to conduct the election of directors.

Attorney Sporleder explained the voting procedures for the election of directors and stated that no nominations of director candidates had been made by petition. The members were instructed to mark their ballots for the candidates of their choice in each district. The ballots were then collected by the Election Judges, who along with Attorney Sporleder retired to count the ballots.

President Bullard thanked retiring Director Karen McBride Kinkead for her years of service on the Board of Directors and Director McBride Kinkead thanked the membership for their support through the years. 

President Bullard continued the business meeting with his report to the membership. He spoke on how all the Directors are dedicated, hard working cooperative members that work diligently to make the best decisions for the membership of the Cooperative. One such decision the Directors along with the Executive Staff have been working on is the strategic plan for the Cooperative’s campus and how future growth and goals would look in the current facilities. President Bullard goes on to explain that since 1952, when the Cooperative moved the headquarters to 1413 Rangeline Street, the surrounding neighborhood has vastly expanded and the campus has seen the addition or remodel of several buildings. Over the years the industry standards for equipment, building codes and employee safety have continued to evolve. Currently, campus facilities do not meet building code requirements, and modern equipment will not adequately fit into available covered, secured, spaces. In an effort to keep moving forward, 14.6 acres on the north side of the current campus was purchased this year. Directors and Executive Staff have been tasked with the job of studying all options, be it remodel current facilities or construct a new headquarters campus. 

President Bullard then introduced Kim Ponder, Treasurer of the Cooperative, who gave the report on the Cooperative’s financial condition.

President Bullard called for a motion to approve the report given. On a motion duly made, seconded, and unanimously passed; the report of the Treasurer was approved. President Bullard called for any unfinished business or new business.  

Laura Baker continued to hold drawings for prizes.

Attorney Sporleder took the podium to present the report of the Election Judges:

 

District 1

Wayne Wilcox 331

Kevin Smith 188

 

 

District 2

Michelle Motley 363

Robert Buffaloe  86

Louis Van Drie, Jr 69

 

District 3

Kim Ponder 311

Kelli Jo Buettner 215

 

 

Attorney Sporleder thereupon declared that Wayne Wilcox, Michelle Motley and Kim Ponder having received the highest number of votes, had been elected directors of the Cooperative each to serve for a term of three years or until their successors are elected and qualified. 

Attorney Sporleder then called for the elected and current board members to hold a meeting for the purpose of reorganizing the Boone Electric Board of Directors. The report of the Nominating Committee and Inspectors of Election were ordered attached to these minutes.

Attorney Andrew Sporleder called for a motion to adjourn the meeting. On a motion duly made, seconded, and unanimously passed; the meeting was adjourned. Laura Baker then continued to draw for the remaining prizes.

TREASURER'S REPORT
Kim Ponder

Boone Electric Cooperative experienced continued growth in 2019 with total assets increasing 6.5% to a total of just over $168,000,000. Assets primarily consist of net utility plant ($121.6 million), investments in associated organizations ($34.6 million) and current assets ($11.7 million) such as cash. A founding principle of your cooperative is member ownership defined as equity. Your equity for 2019 is $72.7 million or 43.3% of total assets.

Normalized weather conditions occurred in 2019, which was very different from the long hot and cold stretches of weather we experienced in 2018. Because revenue is highly dependent on weather, these more mild conditions resulted in a drop to total operating revenues of 3.2%. Decreases to overall power costs (4.5%) and controllable expenses (.4%) offset the decrease to revenue leading to strong revenue from operations of $3 million. The overall cost of operating your electric cooperative decreased by 2.5%.

The cooperative added $6.4 million in patronage capital to member’s accounts during 2019 while retiring and returning just over $3.4 million back to the membership.

PRESIDENT'S REPORT
Joel Bullard

Boone Electric’s Annual Meeting has experienced a lot of changes over the last decade and our dedicated members have kept up with them every step. A worldwide pandemic brings a new look and feel to our gathering this year. On behalf of the board, we thank you for understanding that the health and safety of you and our employees come first. If we couldn’t find a way to have members participate and vote this year, BEC couldn’t continue business as usual. In case you didn’t realize, BEC is required to have a quorum of members to hold this meeting and to vote, which permits this cooperative to do business. So, thank you for driving through and voting. However, this has also opened the board’s eyes that we need to find ways of protecting this co-op and how it does business in the future. 

I do want to take a moment and say thank you to the many members who called to help their neighbors struggling financially the past few months. We had several who offered monetary assistance and it was an honor to be the mediator. The board knows how great Boone Electric members are, but to watch you stand up for each other, made us even more proud. We hope BEC reflects that same dedication to community by which our members live. 

I do have an update on BEC’s plans to move forward with the new building. They have been slightly delayed. We expected to break ground on Phase 1 this spring, but the safety and health of employees became our top priority. We needed to dedicate resources and efforts to keeping your lights on which meant rotating employees to allow them to work from home. My fellow board members and I are proud of the leadership in place for Boone Electric. As for the building, we plan to refresh the original timeline. Renderings of the new building are being designed and we hope to have updates for you soon. Instead of shovels in the ground, our architects and contractors have had time to develop plans and we are getting a clearer picture of the new structures. We want to thank our members for supporting the efforts of the board to provide our dedicated employees with working conditions that promote safety, efficiency and productivity. We truly see this investment as a strong foundation for BEC’s future. We will continue to reach out through the Rural Missouri, our website and social media as details become finalized.

Whether it is through storms, bad weather, technological changes or pandemics, it is an honor to be a part of the cooperative family and especially of Boone Electric.