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The DS&O Electric Cooperative, Inc. “Always looking out for you” May 2017

AnnuAl mEETIngBOarD Of DirectOrSRon Seyfert, President

James Christopher, Vice PresidentBrian Lang, Secretary/Treasurer

Dane Clark, GypsumDoug Lindahl, EnterpriseKen Hedberg, Marquette

Dean Allison, DelphosDavid Butler, Junction City

David Mueller, TampaBruce Spare, Assaria

StaffTimothy J. Power, CEO

Mike Olberding, Operations ManagerJudy Barten, CFODerrick Rutherford,

Communications Manager

Office hOurS8:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.1:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M.

heaDquarterS201 Dakota Drive • P.O. Box 286

Solomon, KS 67480

Other payMent lOcatiOnSPROPAnE CEnTRAL

2618 Central Drive • Junction City, KS 66441

FARMERS STATE BAnK447 Harrison • Lindsborg, KS 67456

9-4 M-F • 9-12 Saturday

In case of an outage call 1-800-376-3533

After hour calls will be answered by dispatch and forwarded to standby personnel.

After hours and on weekends call 1-800-376-3533

Follow us on Twitter@DSOElectricCoop

Visit us on the Web at www.dsoelectric.com

Like us on Facebook

by TImOThy j. pOwEr, CEO

hEADlInEr

rewinDOn April 4th DS&O held its 79th annual meet-ing. Just like in 2016, this year’s annual meeting took place at the Webster Confer-ence Center on the north side of Salina. We had another strong turnout, with nearly 400 in attendance, despite the rain.

We were honored to have Mike Heldstab, representing Senator Jerry Moran, in atten-dance. Also attending were Phil Wages and Jill Taggart from KEPCo and Bob Hall from KEC. We appreciated them coming out on a rainy night!

David Carter of Kansas State University gave an interesting presentation on energy efficien-cy. He then answered a few questions from the members. Thank you Mr. Carter, you did a great job!

Secretary-Treasurer Brain Lang presented the cooperative’s finances, average energy use per meter, and average outage time per meter in 2016. All measures showed an im-provement from 2015. President Ron Seyfert then reported on our solar demonstration project, our peak generator in Solomon, and the Red Zone. I thought they both provided good information to the members.

For my presentation, I spoke about three items. The first was to just give the mem-bership a heads-up about our upcoming annual survey. We survey a portion of our membership each year on a variety of top-ics. Next, I gave an update on our Ft. Riley project. I let everyone know that we (and our partners, Bluestem Electric Cooperative and Flint Hills Electric Cooperative) are in the midst of negotiations with the federal government to purchase and manage Ft. Riley’s distribution system. We should know

if our bid is successful by September of this year. Finally, I discussed another topic that will need member input.

I explained that DS&O is actually celebrating its 80th birthday this year. We were formed in April 1937, before any other electric coopera-tive in Kansas. We initially served just parts of Dickinson, Saline, and Ottawa counties, and were called Tri-County Electric. The name was later changed to DS&O Electric. But we have grown over the years and now serve parts of 11 counties. Because of this growth and our status as the first electric cooperative in Kansas, the Board of Directors elected to pursue a name change for the organization. And to help finalize a new name, we will be conducting a short member survey. This survey will be available to our members via an insert in the June Kansas Country Living magazine. The survey will ask members to

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rewindEnergy Explorers COOPERATIVE

Mark the four electrical hazards shown below with an “X.” Use the safety tips to identify the hazards. Share these tips with your family and friends, and remember to always play it safe near electricity!

Electrical Safety Tips:

Instructions:

Do not overload electrical outlets. Overloaded outlets are a fire hazard!

Keep liquids and drinks away from all electronics, like TVs, computers and gaming consoles. If the liquids spill, they could cause shock or fire!

Never place items like clothing or toys on top of a lamp! Leaving flammable items near lightbulbs creates a fire hazard.

Never leave electrical cords in an area where people walk! The exposed cord creates a tripping hazard.

Electrical Safety Activity

MAY 2017 KANSAS COUNTRY LIVING 16-C

hErE ArE A fEw CO-Op COnnECTIOnS CArD pArTICIpAnTS

follow us on Twitter @DSOElectricCoop Visit us on the web at www.dsoelectric.com

Office clOSeD May 29th

hAppy mEmOrIAl DAy

1ST - mAy DAy14Th - mOThEr’S DAy29Th - mEmOrIAl DAy

may holidays

Keep warm summer air outside where it

belongs! Add caulk or weatherstripping to seal air leaks around

leaky doors and windows.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy

http://filtereasy.com/dsoelectric

DSO

DSOElectric Cooperative

choose from a list of possible new names for our cooperative by selecting their first, second, and third choice of names. Mem-bers can make their choices and

mail the insert back to our office or they can go online to the web address listed on the insert and make their choices electronically. The survey results will help the Board of Directors finalize a new name for the cooperative. This new name will then be presented to a member vote at a later date.

Communications Manager Derrick Rutherford presented the Youth Tour and Leadership winners. Both winners hailed from Southeast of Saline High School. Congratulations to Hanna Feldman, who won the Washington DC Youth Tour, and to McKayla Berg, who will attend the Steamboat Springs Youth Leadership Camp!

Lee Legleiter, attorney from Hampton & Royce, announced the voting results. Directors Ken Hedberg, Ron Seyfert, Bruce Spare, and Dave Mueller all ran unopposed and were reelected to three year terms. Congratulations to each of them! The members also voted in favor of bylaw changes. One change was to better explain capital credits for DS&O partnerships, such as our partnership with neighboring cooperatives (see paragraph below about my presentation and the Ft. Riley project). The other change was to allow the Board of Directors discretion in authorizing exceptions to the length of a director term.

We want to thank all those companies that supported our meeting with donated gifts for door prizes, which were distributed throughout the meeting. Just like last year, the member selected to win the grand prize of $1,000 was not present, so three other names were drawn from those in attendance and each of those members won $100. Congratulations to all the winners!

We also want to thank Ricky’s Café for catering a wonderful meal. I heard many complimentary comments throughout the evening.

And thanks to the employees of the Webster Conference Center for doing a great job with logistics, including parking and shuttling people from the parking lot to the conference center.

Also, thanks to various DS&O employees for their help in coordi-nating the event, especially Derrick Rutherford for doing another great job as Master of Ceremony. Unfortunately, due to the rain, we were not able to have our high voltage demonstration presen-tation this year.

Finally, thanks to all of you for making it a fun and eventful evening. We hope to see another good crowd next year! And keep an eye open for the June Kansas Country Living survey.

AnnuAl mEETIng .....(COnT. frOm prEV. pg.)rewinDrewind electiOn reSultSelection results

Directors Ken Hedberg, Ron Seyfert, Bruce Spare and David Mueller all ran unopposed and were re-elected to three year terms. The members also voted in favor of bylaw changes.

KEN HEDBERG has been elected to represent the West District. He resides in Marquette. He received his business degree from Fort Hays State University in 1979.

Hedberg has been a farmer and rancher in the Marquette area since 1979. During this time, he has also worked in insurance and investments and agricultural marketing and hedging.

He is a member of the Elim Lutheran Church and has served on the church council for 12 years. He is also a member of the Marquette Lions Club, Clerk of Union Township board, and serves as chairman of the Board of Directors for Riverview Estates Inc. Marquette.

Hedberg has served on the DS&O Board of Directors since April 2011.

West District

Get to Know the 2017Board of Trustee Candidates

RON SEYFERT has been elected to represent the West District. He and his wife, Karen, live northwest of Ada. They have two adult children and three grandchildren. He is a graduate of Kansas State University with a bachelor’s degree in Animal Husbandry.

Seyfert served the Ottawa County Extension Council as the County Agricultural Extension Agent from 1969 to 2004. He served the Central Kansas Extension District as the District Livestock Agent from 2004 to 2009. He was active in the Kansas and National Association of County Agricultural Agents. He held many o� ces including, President of the KACAA and Historian of the NACAA. Seyfert is a member of the American Legion, Knights of Columbus, Farm Bureau and the KSU Alumni Association. He also serves as an usher at his church. Seyfert farms and works part time for a neighbor.

He has earned his Credentialed Cooperative Director, Board Leadership and Director Gold certifi cates through attendance at required training and workshops. Seyfert is currently serving as President of the DS&O Board of Directors and has served on the Board since June 2010.

BRUCE SPARE has been elected to represent the Central District. He and his wife, Cheryl, live in Assaria. They are the parents of two adult children. Spare is a graduate of Kansas State University with a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture. He is a rancher and currently manages three rural water districts in Saline County. Spare is an active member of the Lindsborg Evangelical Covenant Church. He enjoys singing in the Kansas Mennonite Men’s Choir and the Smoky Valley Men’s Chorus. One of his hobbies is using a saw mill he built to saw many variety of trees.

Spare has served as a DS&O Director for the past 12 years. He earned his Board Leadership certifi cate and the Credentialed Cooperative Director certifi cate administered by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. He served on the Board during the transition to the new headquarters and participated in hiring a new general manager. He has experience in all o� cer positions and has fulfi lled committee responsibilities on the DS&O Board.

Central District

DAVID MUELLER has been elected to represent the East District. Mueller is a grain farmer and runs a cow/calf operation located between Tampa and Ramona. He graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in Agricultural Economics.

He has served on the boards of the local Rural Water District, Agri Producers grain co-operative and the Marion County Planning and Zoning Commission. He currently serves as Treasurer for St. John’s Lutheran Church, and Chairman for Tampa Trail Stop, a community-owned, volunteer grocery store.

A director with DS&O for 4 ½ years, he recently earned his Board Leadership certifi cate.

“Safe, reliable and a¡ ordable utilities are vital to our rural community,” Mueller said. “As a member of DS&O, you should be proud of the commitment to safety and the quality of people working for your cooperative. The best I can do as a director is ask questions and discuss issues that concern you, my neighbors and fellow member/owners, and look for long-term solutions.”

East District

TRUSTEE NOMINEES are NOT listed on the ballot per SECTION 3.05 VOTING If the number of qualifi ed candidates nominated by petition for election as a Director in each district or at-large is less than or equal to the number of vacancies in each district or at-large, then the election of Directors shall automatically be dispensed with and the nominees shall be deemed elected.

KEn HEDbErg rOn SEyFErT bruCE SparE DaViD muELLEr

Send your favorite recipe into DS&O with your bill.

DS&O is putting together a member recipe book for

next years annual meeting.

Do you have a

favorite recipe?