Chit Chat in VOLTVILLE Thread #2 :)
- Thread starter Imagine
- Start date
- th_trl_thread_readers 0
- Status
Good morning, Voltmaniacs.
I got to thinking about how our co-op is not incorporated and I can't figure out how or if we are following what ever guidelines there are for water testing. I realize that I have to take the word of the people that are involved in this co-op that the guidelines for water testing say blah-blah and the guidelines for being on the board and the open meeting laws say blah-blah.
I know that no lawyer has been consulted for our by-laws and no lawyer or even a business professional has been consulted on the merits of being incorporated or other business practices that can protect board members from lawsuits.
I don't see any written guidelines for what we do about or for people that have high arsenic in their wells. Can we be held legally liable for that since we know the condition exists? We get their well report for the co-op I really don't know.
I just found out that water testing doesn't have to be done once but instead has to be done once a year for five years at a cost of $100 per year. They just said that you have to have your well tested within a year and I thought I could do that but this is a lot more work and money. I was helping people get their water testing by showing up with another member and filling test bottles but now I wonder if I am assuming any legal responsibility/liability on that issue.
I told the president that I wasn't interested in helping people to test their water every year for 5 years. It is too big of a job.
I honestly don't know the regs and would have to work very hard to figure out what the regs are and mean if I can locate them. So far I can't find them on the internet.
I had a hard time sleeping. I don't want to be legally liable for anything and I don't have the time or the energy to figure all this out.
The last treasurer left everything in disarray and now I am to organize the books which also makes me nervous although I don't think anything improper has happened. She didn't make any entries into the checkbook since 6/11/2016. There isn't a lot of check writing but this is going to be a fairly tough job in some ways. On top of that, I don't think we have any client files indicating who has paid what and when. Aaaargh! I have to go through the two receipt books to find a name and then figure out what if anything is still owed. It isn't good.
On top of that, I am truly not qualified to be a treasurer with no training and I used a CPA to make sure all my taxes and forms would be correct. We don't have a CPA.
I got to thinking about how our co-op is not incorporated and I can't figure out how or if we are following what ever guidelines there are for water testing. I realize that I have to take the word of the people that are involved in this co-op that the guidelines for water testing say blah-blah and the guidelines for being on the board and the open meeting laws say blah-blah.
I know that no lawyer has been consulted for our by-laws and no lawyer or even a business professional has been consulted on the merits of being incorporated or other business practices that can protect board members from lawsuits.
I don't see any written guidelines for what we do about or for people that have high arsenic in their wells. Can we be held legally liable for that since we know the condition exists? We get their well report for the co-op I really don't know.
I just found out that water testing doesn't have to be done once but instead has to be done once a year for five years at a cost of $100 per year. They just said that you have to have your well tested within a year and I thought I could do that but this is a lot more work and money. I was helping people get their water testing by showing up with another member and filling test bottles but now I wonder if I am assuming any legal responsibility/liability on that issue.
I told the president that I wasn't interested in helping people to test their water every year for 5 years. It is too big of a job.
I honestly don't know the regs and would have to work very hard to figure out what the regs are and mean if I can locate them. So far I can't find them on the internet.
I had a hard time sleeping. I don't want to be legally liable for anything and I don't have the time or the energy to figure all this out.
The last treasurer left everything in disarray and now I am to organize the books which also makes me nervous although I don't think anything improper has happened. She didn't make any entries into the checkbook since 6/11/2016. There isn't a lot of check writing but this is going to be a fairly tough job in some ways. On top of that, I don't think we have any client files indicating who has paid what and when. Aaaargh! I have to go through the two receipt books to find a name and then figure out what if anything is still owed. It isn't good.
On top of that, I am truly not qualified to be a treasurer with no training and I used a CPA to make sure all my taxes and forms would be correct. We don't have a CPA.
Last edited:
'moanin, Voltizens.
Lizzie, like I said before "all hands abandon ship, all hands abandon ship"!!!! It looks like no one there has a clue about what they're doing, other than you, and no one there has a clue about legal liabilities. Incorporation is nice, but expensive and, generally requires an attorney, for real, or at least Legal Zoom. It looks like a big can of worms, ready to multiply exponentially.
My opinion of Comtrash is going down hill very rapidly. No one showed up yesterday, so I called. I think everyone in the Philadelphia market has seen their ads touting a two hour window for service. I was told someone would be here between 8 and 10. One would assume that meant between 8AM and 10AM. When I called, at about noon yesterday, I was told that meant 8AM and 10PM. So much for the two hour window. I was also told the service was originally scheduled for Wednesday but was moved to Thursday for some reason. I should get a call from the service department and an email. No phone calls and no email have happened.
At about 4:30 the phone rang and caller ID showed a Philadelphia area code. I assumed it was the service guy calling. Wrong. It was a Comcast call to see how I liked my great, new, wonderful, working, cable service. I did manage to hold my temper pretty well in check and the rep was very apologetic and connected me to their service department, yet again. He even stayed on the line and explained the basic problem.
After going through the whole problem description for the fourth time and various other things, like account number, MAC address of the modem, serial number of the modem and so on, I was told that service would happen today, Friday, with no specified time. I was insistent and got a time window of 9AM to 11AM and was careful to make sure that both times were, indeed AM. I'm supposed to get a call from the technician prior to the visit.
It's 9:40 and no call, yet. If they don't show today the whole mess of stuff is going back to Comtrash. I'm thinking of billing them for my time yesterday and today and taking them to Small Claims Court if they don't show.
What bothers me is that on the original call I was told the first available service would be Sunday, the 18th. I can't help but wonder if I'm just getting the runaround and stall tactic until Sunday. My patience isn't that good, though.
Lizzie, like I said before "all hands abandon ship, all hands abandon ship"!!!! It looks like no one there has a clue about what they're doing, other than you, and no one there has a clue about legal liabilities. Incorporation is nice, but expensive and, generally requires an attorney, for real, or at least Legal Zoom. It looks like a big can of worms, ready to multiply exponentially.
My opinion of Comtrash is going down hill very rapidly. No one showed up yesterday, so I called. I think everyone in the Philadelphia market has seen their ads touting a two hour window for service. I was told someone would be here between 8 and 10. One would assume that meant between 8AM and 10AM. When I called, at about noon yesterday, I was told that meant 8AM and 10PM. So much for the two hour window. I was also told the service was originally scheduled for Wednesday but was moved to Thursday for some reason. I should get a call from the service department and an email. No phone calls and no email have happened.
At about 4:30 the phone rang and caller ID showed a Philadelphia area code. I assumed it was the service guy calling. Wrong. It was a Comcast call to see how I liked my great, new, wonderful, working, cable service. I did manage to hold my temper pretty well in check and the rep was very apologetic and connected me to their service department, yet again. He even stayed on the line and explained the basic problem.
After going through the whole problem description for the fourth time and various other things, like account number, MAC address of the modem, serial number of the modem and so on, I was told that service would happen today, Friday, with no specified time. I was insistent and got a time window of 9AM to 11AM and was careful to make sure that both times were, indeed AM. I'm supposed to get a call from the technician prior to the visit.
It's 9:40 and no call, yet. If they don't show today the whole mess of stuff is going back to Comtrash. I'm thinking of billing them for my time yesterday and today and taking them to Small Claims Court if they don't show.
What bothers me is that on the original call I was told the first available service would be Sunday, the 18th. I can't help but wonder if I'm just getting the runaround and stall tactic until Sunday. My patience isn't that good, though.
I'm thinking about jumping ship by telling them I have "personal reasons" for leaving and no I really, really can't be on the board or a member. Yeah, I'm sure that is wussy of me but I don't know that I want to get into all of the problems I am concerned about since that would take a huge conversation I am pretty sure they aren't capable of having.
They probably need to hire somebody but they haven't got many funds and they may not be able to understand the need for professional advice. They need to find people with some expertise in business, legal and/or accounting but so far they have a bunch of people that think they know stuff that they probably don't actually know and, think about it, a public utility probably has some legal considerations on top of the open meeting laws and the non-profit laws.
I don't think anybody there really knows about that stuff. I could probably find out more about all of that but it would take me hours and hours and hours of research and I still wouldn't be a lawyer or an accountant or a IRS tax specialist.
Just my opinion so take it for what it's worth. It sounds like the Directors just want the title and illusion of power/importance and have no real desire to accomplish anything. They also seem to have some delusions of grandeur, IE the members from anywhere thing. A group like this can, and there are many, be a legally constituted entity and operate on a professional level. That takes truly interested and committed leadership, not someone who wants a title. I think you'd be making a smart move by backing out and going in another direction.
I gotta go clean a house.
One last thing about the board. They seem to want to infiltrate the municipal water board so they can take over from the local bigwig. They want to get the proxies of out of state members so they can have a majority. I'm wondering what do they think they will accomplish if they get the majority? The people in the township need water and are all by now on pipes. They can't really go back in time and put everyone back on a well. That is a whole other can of worms and I want no part of it.
Seems to me they haven't the sense to run the little co-op they have so how would they handle the municipal water supply?
One last thing about the board. They seem to want to infiltrate the municipal water board so they can take over from the local bigwig. They want to get the proxies of out of state members so they can have a majority. I'm wondering what do they think they will accomplish if they get the majority? The people in the township need water and are all by now on pipes. They can't really go back in time and put everyone back on a well. That is a whole other can of worms and I want no part of it.
Seems to me they haven't the sense to run the little co-op they have so how would they handle the municipal water supply?
Good morning, Voltpeeps.
Going to be 86 degrees today. Looks like a nice warm September.
I discussed this water co-op problem with Hubby and decided I would make sure I fulfill my obligations for a couple of weeks until vacation. After vacation, I will give a two week notice. At the board meeting next Tuesday night I will try to get some answers to a few of my gajillion questions. Like are we incorporated and do we have liability for the arsenic issue?
I have to work today. Yes, it is a four-letter word.
Going to be 86 degrees today. Looks like a nice warm September.
I discussed this water co-op problem with Hubby and decided I would make sure I fulfill my obligations for a couple of weeks until vacation. After vacation, I will give a two week notice. At the board meeting next Tuesday night I will try to get some answers to a few of my gajillion questions. Like are we incorporated and do we have liability for the arsenic issue?
I have to work today. Yes, it is a four-letter word.
Good morning fellow lithium junkies. Been a pretty rough week around here but I'm hopeing I'm caught up enough for some r&r today. Hope everybody is enjoying their weekend.
'moanin, Voltiums.
We're having some spectacular weather, too. Highs around 80 and dropping into the low 50s at night. I see leaves starting to look crisp so fall can't be too far away. Hopefully, we'll get some rain tomorrow and Monday. Everything has gone crunchy again.
The Comtrash saga is finally concluded. A technician did show up, finally, yesterday at about 2PM. I explained the lack of signal to him and he looked at the pole in our yard, we're that far from the nearest pole in the street. There's a piece of hardline, semi rigid coaxial cable for you non-techies, that ends right at the pole and the cable that was connected to it had been cut. The last residents were not, shall we say, the best at paying their bills. That easily explained the "no signal" problem. He checked, and sure enough, the had line had signal. So he ran a new drop cable into the house for us. Took about an hour, total, from arrival until he left.
So I set up the new modem first and got all the important internet stuff working, like my desktop, the laptops, the tablets and my new (used) smartphone. Then the set top boxes got set up. They're pretty neat, smaller than the old stuff that was the size of a VCR. There's no display on them other than a power LED which is a bit disconcerting after having a digital clock there for all these years. The remotes paired nicely with both TV's and even have voice command. Having an HD picture is nice as well. This morning I moved the security cameras over onto the new network which completed everything.
And it wouldn't be complete without another puppy picture -
We're having some spectacular weather, too. Highs around 80 and dropping into the low 50s at night. I see leaves starting to look crisp so fall can't be too far away. Hopefully, we'll get some rain tomorrow and Monday. Everything has gone crunchy again.
The Comtrash saga is finally concluded. A technician did show up, finally, yesterday at about 2PM. I explained the lack of signal to him and he looked at the pole in our yard, we're that far from the nearest pole in the street. There's a piece of hardline, semi rigid coaxial cable for you non-techies, that ends right at the pole and the cable that was connected to it had been cut. The last residents were not, shall we say, the best at paying their bills. That easily explained the "no signal" problem. He checked, and sure enough, the had line had signal. So he ran a new drop cable into the house for us. Took about an hour, total, from arrival until he left.
So I set up the new modem first and got all the important internet stuff working, like my desktop, the laptops, the tablets and my new (used) smartphone. Then the set top boxes got set up. They're pretty neat, smaller than the old stuff that was the size of a VCR. There's no display on them other than a power LED which is a bit disconcerting after having a digital clock there for all these years. The remotes paired nicely with both TV's and even have voice command. Having an HD picture is nice as well. This morning I moved the security cameras over onto the new network which completed everything.
And it wouldn't be complete without another puppy picture -
AWWWW god I love puppies!!! So much cuteness... if I ever get rich I'm gonna have me a big ol' house filled with nothing but dogs and everything needed to care for them!!!! (and to think I used to be a cat person at leats until I got my siamese cat and became allergic to the whole species'moanin, Voltiums.
We're having some spectacular weather, too. Highs around 80 and dropping into the low 50s at night. I see leaves starting to look crisp so fall can't be too far away. Hopefully, we'll get some rain tomorrow and Monday. Everything has gone crunchy again.
The Comtrash saga is finally concluded. A technician did show up, finally, yesterday at about 2PM. I explained the lack of signal to him and he looked at the pole in our yard, we're that far from the nearest pole in the street. There's a piece of hardline, semi rigid coaxial cable for you non-techies, that ends right at the pole and the cable that was connected to it had been cut. The last residents were not, shall we say, the best at paying their bills. That easily explained the "no signal" problem. He checked, and sure enough, the had line had signal. So he ran a new drop cable into the house for us. Took about an hour, total, from arrival until he left.
So I set up the new modem first and got all the important internet stuff working, like my desktop, the laptops, the tablets and my new (used) smartphone. Then the set top boxes got set up. They're pretty neat, smaller than the old stuff that was the size of a VCR. There's no display on them other than a power LED which is a bit disconcerting after having a digital clock there for all these years. The remotes paired nicely with both TV's and even have voice command. Having an HD picture is nice as well. This morning I moved the security cameras over onto the new network which completed everything.
And it wouldn't be complete without another puppy picture -
)
Today, I took 3 of my tutoring students to ride a horse. It was at my friend Nancy's farm, and, since we arrived early, I took them "up to the farm" to see the crops. Nancy has her barn at a place where you have to drive (or ride a horse) to get where her husband works on the farm. There's a huge barn housing tractors and such stuff, but no one seemed to be around, though there was a radio playing. Maybe they were all out to lunch, since it was a bit after 1:00 pm. So we walked away from the garage, or whatever you call it when it's big enough for farm machinery, and looked at a cornfield, since one of the kids wanted to see corn actually growing on a plant. She got to see lots of corncobs in their sheaths and a few bursting out of them. I think this corn is probably animal fodder or for fuel, not for human consumption, as, I think, is most of the corn around here, since it is harvested when it's too mature to be good for eating. Also, I see trucks parked by cornfields with lots of corn kernels flowing out of them onto the road. They look dried up, like popcorn does, so I doubt it's for people to eat.
I was a bit shocked and annoyed that the kids seemed unhappy and uncomfortable walking or running through weedy grass over bumpy land to see the fields. They are such city kids! Only the one girl, the original girl, seemed to be interested in the fields. She wanted to walk on down the farm road, but the 2 others thought it had already been too much walking, so we headed back to the car.
So we went to the area where the horses were, and near the road was an apple tree and they could pick apples from the tree or get windfall apples from the ground under the tree. They didn't want to hand-feed the horses, since the original girl, who had ridden Penny and gave her a carrot piece, warned them that horses slobber on your hand when you give them treats, so they tossed the apples under the fence for the horses, which worked.
Then Nancy's daughter, Heather, came out and got Ali, a very small horse or maybe a pony, an Appaloosa, out of her pasture, and we groomed her a little, though she was fairly clean, and we saw botfly eggs on her, and I explained about them. In case you don't know and are interested, bots are bugs that look a lot like bees, and they lay their yellow eggs on a horse by perching for a minute and depositing them on the hairs on a horse's body. Then the horse might feel an itch in that spot or chase away another kind of fly, and it puts its mouth on that spot where the eggs are, and the horse ingests the eggs, which hatch inside the horse, then come out in the manure, and breed more botflies. While it's in the horse, it's a parasite that can be killed with a dewormer that kills lots of parasites a horse may pick up.
Anyway, Nancy arrived, and we saddled and bridled Ali and took her down to the ring, an enclosed riding place. One by one, the kids got on Ali and rode. Those of you who have Facebook can look at my post there for photos.
The kids all had fun, and the little one fell asleep on the car ride home, so I assume the extra exercise and excitement tired him out.
It was supposed to rain this afternoon, but it held off to give us cloudy but good weather. Not too hot but lots of bugs to bother the horse. I've noticed over the years that more bugs -- flies, etc. -- means rain is coming.
I had a really good day, and I think the kids did, too.
I was a bit shocked and annoyed that the kids seemed unhappy and uncomfortable walking or running through weedy grass over bumpy land to see the fields. They are such city kids! Only the one girl, the original girl, seemed to be interested in the fields. She wanted to walk on down the farm road, but the 2 others thought it had already been too much walking, so we headed back to the car.
So we went to the area where the horses were, and near the road was an apple tree and they could pick apples from the tree or get windfall apples from the ground under the tree. They didn't want to hand-feed the horses, since the original girl, who had ridden Penny and gave her a carrot piece, warned them that horses slobber on your hand when you give them treats, so they tossed the apples under the fence for the horses, which worked.
Then Nancy's daughter, Heather, came out and got Ali, a very small horse or maybe a pony, an Appaloosa, out of her pasture, and we groomed her a little, though she was fairly clean, and we saw botfly eggs on her, and I explained about them. In case you don't know and are interested, bots are bugs that look a lot like bees, and they lay their yellow eggs on a horse by perching for a minute and depositing them on the hairs on a horse's body. Then the horse might feel an itch in that spot or chase away another kind of fly, and it puts its mouth on that spot where the eggs are, and the horse ingests the eggs, which hatch inside the horse, then come out in the manure, and breed more botflies. While it's in the horse, it's a parasite that can be killed with a dewormer that kills lots of parasites a horse may pick up.
Anyway, Nancy arrived, and we saddled and bridled Ali and took her down to the ring, an enclosed riding place. One by one, the kids got on Ali and rode. Those of you who have Facebook can look at my post there for photos.
The kids all had fun, and the little one fell asleep on the car ride home, so I assume the extra exercise and excitement tired him out.
It was supposed to rain this afternoon, but it held off to give us cloudy but good weather. Not too hot but lots of bugs to bother the horse. I've noticed over the years that more bugs -- flies, etc. -- means rain is coming.
I had a really good day, and I think the kids did, too.
Last edited:
I left around nine o this morning, walked downtown to farmer's market. Was about to buy some jalapeno jelly, but the guy said taht the jalapenos are hot this year. so I got raspberry-jalapeno. Was thinking about making my own, but too much trouble and expense. Stopped at a resale shop and got some LL Bean winter shoes. Brushed the suede, and put in my arch supports, should be good for a few years. Physical therapist looked at my winter shoes last winter, and told me that she knew why I was so afraid of getting a sprained ankle. Had to toss them. Crying.
Stopped at the new vape shop, but he doesn't open until noon on Saturdays. Went to the library, and picked up two Patricia Cornwells that I had missed before. Changed a few dollars for quarters.
Did laundry, hung half of it on the clothesline.
Waiting for my daughter to call. I am going to give up on cellphone except for text and emergency, ordered a fancy amplified landline phone.
Stopped at the new vape shop, but he doesn't open until noon on Saturdays. Went to the library, and picked up two Patricia Cornwells that I had missed before. Changed a few dollars for quarters.
Did laundry, hung half of it on the clothesline.
Waiting for my daughter to call. I am going to give up on cellphone except for text and emergency, ordered a fancy amplified landline phone.
Sounds like a good day, Three.
Yeah, the cell phone can be hard to hear on to me so if you have hearing issues, that could be a real problem. Texting is a nice option on the cell phone if you are having a hard time hearing. I'm going to have to remember that. "I can't hear you, text me!"
Awsum, the puppies are so cute. Have you made up your mind? Does the black muzzled boy win?
SandySu, loved hearing about the kids going to the country. I can't imagine thinking a little horse slobber isn't actually wonderful and certainly would have fed those horses by hand. I bet you gave those kids a day they will remember for a long time.
Celti - Puppies are so cute and totally worthy of an "Awwww".
Semi - You are so right. City folks would probably go through the Pickle Meadows garter snake infested swamp for a Pokeman. I, on the other hand, told Hubby I had enough and retraced my steps and stood on reasonably dry, not a snake to be seen land. When he said we could go through a different route through the swamp, I said no. I had reached my limit in snakes.
After a lot of cruising the internet, I finally found the easy to read Open Meeting Laws rules for our state as our president at the co-op seems to think we are in big trouble if we don't follow these rules. What I found out was that the rules do not apply to us, period. They apply to governmental entities of a multitude of types but we are a private water co-op. One of the examples given of who is NOT a public entity is a private electric co-op. We are not elected, not appointed by a state entity nor compelled by law nor do we receive any tax monies from the state. Somehow, I need to tell the president. I don't think this is going to go over well. He's obsessed with complying with the open meeting laws since he read the entire manual. I think he totally missed the cover page and pages 21, 22 and 23.
What is most potentially disturbing is that there may be corporate or non-profit guidelines and we don't know what they are. Scary.
Last edited:
I hope I am not jinxing myself but I got the new wireless router up and running and connected to the printer, two tablets, two cell phones.
I can actually watch videos on my tablet now. YouTube and Facebook videos are watchable on my tablet. Yes!
I was thinking if we have a decent computer and a decent tablet or Firestick, why do have problems. I thought it might be the cheezy wireless router I bought to try doing wireless in our house. By golly, I think that what it was.
I have to try for the Amazon Firestick next. Wish me luck.
I can actually watch videos on my tablet now. YouTube and Facebook videos are watchable on my tablet. Yes!
I was thinking if we have a decent computer and a decent tablet or Firestick, why do have problems. I thought it might be the cheezy wireless router I bought to try doing wireless in our house. By golly, I think that what it was.
I have to try for the Amazon Firestick next. Wish me luck.
'afternoon, Voltaticavillians.
The story with the kids going riding and exploring the farm, a little, was great Sandy. I guess the horse drool thing is one of those "phobias" kids, and some adults, have. The only thing I ever worry about when giving a horse and apple or carrot is keeping my fingers out of the way!
Yeah a router with enough bandwidth can make a real difference, Lizzie. I still can't "get into" watching movies on a tablet or phone, or even a full sized computer monitor, though. Why do that when you have a "big screen" sitting there is my attitude.
You had a busy day, too, 3mg. Jalapeno jelly isn't on my favorites list, but I can appreciate liking it. We used to go to the deli in Caesars in AC and I'd sit there and eat the whole bowl of jalapenos and ask for more. I have a problem with texting on a phone, it's called fumble fingers.
We went out to have a look at the training/boarding facility that we plan on using for the new puppy, once he gets here. A very nice place on a quiet back road. The young lady that showed us around is another "big dog" fan. She had a Great Dane and just adopted an English Mastiff so we related really well and exchanged stories about handling big dogs and the need for them to be well trained. We are both getting really anxious to have the new puppy here. All three are starting to try to walk and I'm betting they'll be walking before the week is done.
The story with the kids going riding and exploring the farm, a little, was great Sandy. I guess the horse drool thing is one of those "phobias" kids, and some adults, have. The only thing I ever worry about when giving a horse and apple or carrot is keeping my fingers out of the way!
Yeah a router with enough bandwidth can make a real difference, Lizzie. I still can't "get into" watching movies on a tablet or phone, or even a full sized computer monitor, though. Why do that when you have a "big screen" sitting there is my attitude.
You had a busy day, too, 3mg. Jalapeno jelly isn't on my favorites list, but I can appreciate liking it. We used to go to the deli in Caesars in AC and I'd sit there and eat the whole bowl of jalapenos and ask for more. I have a problem with texting on a phone, it's called fumble fingers.
We went out to have a look at the training/boarding facility that we plan on using for the new puppy, once he gets here. A very nice place on a quiet back road. The young lady that showed us around is another "big dog" fan. She had a Great Dane and just adopted an English Mastiff so we related really well and exchanged stories about handling big dogs and the need for them to be well trained. We are both getting really anxious to have the new puppy here. All three are starting to try to walk and I'm betting they'll be walking before the week is done.
- Status
Similar threads
