2PM Wednesday, September 7 - Helix WD Regular Board Meeting - IMPORTANT ELECTION INFORMATION INCLUDED!

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Dear Friends, Here is the link for the board package for our Regular Helix Water District Board Meeting:

AGENDA
REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Wednesday, September 7, 2016, 2PM
7811 University Avenue, La Mesa, CA 91942-0427
Interesting items:

Item 6. The Board Authorize the General Manager to Execute a Services Agreement and Related Contract Documents with Invoice Cloud Inc. to Provide Credit Card and Automated Clearing House Payment Processing Services for Online, Pay-by-Phone and Automatic Bank Draft (AutoPay) Customer Payment Options

Invoice Cloud pricing terms were negotiated as follows.
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Invoice Cloud Services Fee Responsible l

Credit Card Payment (Visa, MC, Discover) $ 3.95 Customer 
E-Check and AutoPay Payment $ 0.40 HWD 
Paperless Billing per Bill per Cycle $ 0.08 HWD 
Pay-by-Phone Payment Surcharge $ 0.20 HWD

There is no change in the fee charged to district customers who use their credit cards to pay their water bills. Based on Invoice Cloud's schedule of service fees, the annual cost to the district will be approximately $52,000 - $57,000.
I plan on asking our General Manager on Monday for more information. I want to know what are we paying now and what were the other two proposals submitted by qualified vendors, ACI Worldwide Inc., and Paymentus Corp were. I want the best deal for customers and the district. FYI: Typically this review is done at a Committee level, but it was not brought to our Committee at large level and Helix does not have a Finance Committee, like many other Special Districts do..hopefully November will bring some change…speaking of which.

November 2016 means election time. The ballot is filled with many candidates and all elections are important! The Grossmont Mt. Helix Improvement Association created an Election Committee to look at the Helix Water District Board of Directors and identified, vetted and endorsed three candidates:

1. Division 3 (Spring Valley, Lemon Grove, southern La Mesa)
 Mark Gracyk: has professional experience managing water, regularly attends the Helix Board meetings, and has expressed willingness to be a rate-payer advocate. Website: www.Mark4HWD.org

2. Division 1 ( El Cajon) 
 Dan McMillan: has served on the Padre Dam Water District Board, the San Miguel Fire District Board, has a sound background in finance also pledges to represent the rate-payer Website: www.dan4lowerrates.com

3. Division 5 ( East El Cajon) 
  Joel Scalzitti, incumbent, consistently represents the rate-payer. (Running for re-election unopposed).

It is important to note that voters may only vote for the candidate representing their geographic Division. While you may not be able to vote for our preferred candidates, we encourage you to support them in other ways because their presence on the Helix Water Board will change the direction of the agency. Note: For those in attendance at our last meeting who have already offered assistance, we thank you in advance!

1. Urge your friends and acquaintances living in Division 1 and 3 to VOTE in this election and to vote for Mark Gracyk or Dan McMillan. 
2. Make a financial contribution to their campaigns to help purchase signs and flyers (see websites).
3. Offer assistance; the candidates need help in placing signage, distributing flyers, networking with voter groups, and media coverage.

With your help, we can finally end up with a majority on the Helix Water Board – a majority that is open and willing to consider alternatives to raising rates in order to manage their budget. For questions or more information, contact Larry Nichols (619) 440-1607 or Lsnnichols@cox.net.

As always, I welcome your comments and feedback.

Per the request of the Helix Water District Board on May 16, 2012, the following language is to be added by all Board Directors in all outgoing Director correspondence. "This correspondence, and any documents attached hereto, reflects the individual opinions and positions of the above-named Director and does not represent the opinions or positions of the District's Board of Directors or the District. Pursuant to Section 9.1-11(A) of the Helix Water District Policies and Procedures Manual, individual Directors, except as otherwise authorized by the Board, shall have no power to act for the District or the District's Board of Directors."

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