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Toledo Bend Bi-State Alliance
Minutes September 27, 2004
The meeting was called to order by Linda Mauer.
The opening prayer was given by John Crisp.
There were no new members or visitors present. Linda welcomed back Janna and Jerry Lehman to our meetings. The Sign-In sheet was passed around to the members.
Changes to the Agenda under New Business: 1. Possible meeting of Joint Board of SRA. 2. Deerfest Activities.
Minutes of the August 24, 2004 meeting were approved as submitted. Janna will post the Minutes to the web site.
Janna Lehman, Treasurer, reported a balance of $1987.33. Jana will confirm the actual number of Organization Members and Associate Members who are paid for this year, and send notices to organizations who have not yet paid. Motion was made, seconded and passed to accept Treasurer’s Report as given.
Old Business:
East Texas Regional Water Planning Committee Report: No report. Bill Heugel, representative, was not present. Bill sent word that he did not make the last Committee meeting, so has nothing to report. The Committee meets every other month.
Meeting with Senator Todd Staples:
Linda Mauer has been collecting the information and documents Senator Staples requested for submission to him. Larry has been having a problem getting written projected fuel adjustment costs from Entergy, but hopes to get that resolved in the next couple of weeks. Meanwhile, Linda will go ahead and write a letter to Sen. Staples submitting the other two of the three requested documents, along with a copy of the Louisiana Legislation, so he will have some information to start reviewing.
Linda read a letter received from Sen. Staples written in response to her letter. He thanked the representatives of the TBBSA for traveling to his office and the ensuing meeting discussing our concerns regarding the lake level issue. He outlined the three issues for which he needed firm documentation in order to address our issues with other legislators. Those issues were: 1) possible effects of the legislation, 2) flooding downstream from the dam, and 3) figures used for the cost adjustment of the power. Sen. Staples said his assistant, Miss Kelly, will be working with him and will be available to assist us if needed.
Co-Chairman for Louisiana:
Linda stated the TBBSA still needs a Co-Chairman for Louisiana. Larry said the Louisiana members are still working on finding someone, but one of the largest organizations may have to drop out of TBBSA because of their now having a 501-3C status. Larry and other members are willing to support anyone stepping forward to hold the office of Co-Chairman.
Data Base Collection Progress:
Larry reported three organizations have submitted membership data bases. Other organizations are still working to get membership lists. Larry said it would be quite helpful to have those lists in Microsoft Excel or Word Perfect format.
New Business:
Meeting with State Rep. Mike “Tuffy” Hamilton in Mauriceville on 9/28/04:
Linda Mauer, John Noll Crisp, Larry Kelly, and several other members will be meeting with Rep. Hamilton at 2:00 P.M. on 9/28/04 to present to him copies of the same documents being provided to Senator Staples regarding the Lake Level Issue.
Linda is hopeful this meeting will get us a voice in the House of Representatives. Rep. Hamilton represents Newton County.
LA-SRA & TX SRA Board Meetings:
Linda suggested the LA-SRA Board meetings, and any other meetings of interest to TBBSA, be put on the Agenda with meeting dates and time noted. Larry noted the LA-SRA Board meets every fourth Thursday of the month at 1:00 P.M. As it so happened this month, the fourth Thursday came before the fourth Monday, so the notice would not have been relevant. The usual meeting place of the LA-SRA Board is the Louisiana Welcome Center on Hwy. 6 (TX 21) near Pendleton Bridge. Place and time of meeting of the TX-SRA Board is not scheduled until about 2 weeks prior to the meetings. The Joint SRA Board meetings are held at the Toledo Bend Dam. The next meeting will probably be held sometime in November.
Full Joint SRA Board Meeting:
Larry Kelly reported actions taken as the lake level approached the 168 msl. Andy Dreher of Entergy was contacted, and Larry learned that maintenance scheduled for October had been moved up to now, and that stopped generation. Larry thanked him for his help in stopping generation. Since the stopping of generation was not firm prior to Thursday’s meeting, Larry prepared a motion that Don Lemieux presented saying the LA-SRA fully supported stopping power generation at 168msl, and both SRA Boards, the Joint Board and the power companies would be asked to stop generation. The motion passed. Larry had also prepared a petition, as described in Section 20 of the Operating Agreement by the attorney of the LA-SRA, requesting a called meeting of the Full Joint SRA Board. That petition would then be sent to the Chairman of the Joint Board. The petition passed and was signed by 9 of the 10 board members present. One member left before the petition could be prepared in final format.
After the petition is received by the Chairman of the Joint Board, he must set up a meeting right away and notify each member in writing. This meeting could be held within three weeks of notification. Larry believes that meeting will be held in Hemphill or Cypress Bend. It was suggested as soon as the place, date and time is known, we mail out post cards to residents of the area. We need as many residents and elected officials as possible to attend in show of support. Larry noted when this meeting is held, it will be the first time in the history of the reservoir that the Full Joint Board has ever met. It is very important that we get as large or larger crowd than was present at the meeting held at the VFW in Hemphill. Further discussion followed. Janna was approached about looking into getting the post cards. Larry suggested submitting articles to the paper, too.
October Deerfest:
Janna received a letter from the Chamber of Commerce requesting a donation in the amount of $100, or more, toward the cost of the festivities of the East Texas Deerfest on October 16th. For the donation, the donor would receive two Admission Tickets, free parking, the donor’s name on the Sponsor Board at the Rodeo Grounds, and sponsor’s name would be posted on their web site. After discussion regarding the request, a motion was made that TBBSA not participate as a sponsor. The motion was seconded and passed. Members were encouraged to support the Deerfest with their attendance, however.
Other Comments:
Larry suggested we think about Fund Raiser activities to raise money to cover mailings and postage. Linda asked those who had experience at raising funds to share ways they have used. Stan Verret told the group about Crawfish Boils and Fish Fries that he has helped with. Barbecues and bake sales were mentioned. Places that might be large enough to hold such events were discussed.. Stan will query his next American Legion and VFW meetings. Cake sales have been profitable, too.
Approval of New Members: Gordon and Linda Thibodeaux of Hemphill were voted in as new members. (Janna apologized for the delay in acknowledging them since they paid as Associate members in July).
Approval of Payment of Outstanding Bills: Members moved to pre-approve $1000 for cards and postage.
Next Meeting Date: October 25, 2004
Meeting Adjourned at 7:38 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Betty Griffin, Secretary
TBBSA
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