RIPLEY – December was a busy month for Tippah Electric Power Association board members, according to the most recently available board minutes.

The board met Dec. 7, 10, and 21, and dealt with matters as diverse as a proposed drive-through payment system for the main office, personnel changes, the proposed Gravestown substation, and how the board will deal with the press.

DEC. 7

Minutes of the special meeting of the Board of Directors of Tippah Electric Power Association, Dec. 7, 2009 reflected the following actions.

The meeting was called to order by President Wallace Tomlinson at 6 p.m. Directors present included Wallace Tomlinson, Stanley Rolfe, Tim McMillin, John Reid, and Shan Tidwell. Board members Erskine Cummings, Harry Shelly, John Stanford, and Fred Permenter were absent. Alisa Smith was also present.

The board:

--Approved moving Willie Prather to fill a supervisor position. The new position will be subject to review in six months and will be at a salary held in the manager's office. The labor committee will meet with this supervisor candidate to discuss the new position.

--Discussed hiring four new employees as linemen. This issue was tabled until further information could be obtained.

--Extended the director election ballot deadline to Dec. 15 rather than Dec. 11. The board further agreed to allow customers to pick up ballots at the TEPA office beginning Thursday, Dec. 10 if they did not receive one in the mail.

--Entered executive session and Alisa Smith was excused. No action was taken following executive session.

--Adjourned at approximately 7 p.m.

DEC. 10

Minutes of the regular monthly meeting of the Board of Directors of Tippah Electric Power Association Dec. 10, 2009, indicted the board took the following actions.

The meeting was called to order by President Wallace Tomlinson at 6:10 p.m. Board member Fred Permenter was absent. Board member John Stanford held a proxy for Director Permenter. Others present at the meeting included Manager Sam Buchanan, Board Attorney Brad Dillard, and various TEPA members.

The board:

--Approved the minutes from the Nov. 12, 2009, board meeting.

--Adopted the cash flow statement, et. al. presented by Sam Buchanan for the time period Nov. 1, 2009, through Nov. 30, 2009.

--Heard a report from Danny Caples on pole relocations, work orders and security lights. The board voted to have Danny Caples/Sam Buchanan determine the approximate amount of money necessary to perform all necessary right-of-way and other work needed and to report back to the board regarding same.

--Heard a report from Sam Buchanan who presented information regarding time-of-day rates regarding commercial customers. The board approved the time-of-day rate option for commercial customers eligible to participate in this plan, with any affected customer paying for any meter changes as necessary.

--Heard a report from Sam Buchanan who presented an update on the proposed Gravestown Substation and advised the board that the Public Service Commission would conduct a hearing on Dec. 15 to determine whether the substation would be approved.

--Requested Sam Buchanan to obtain blue prints and bids on a drive thru payment system for the main office by the January meeting or as soon as possible.

--Entered executive session to discuss legal and employment issues. The board later exited executive session.

--Voted to require all communications between TEPA and the press to be in the form of a written press release.

--Voted to provide a member list containing names and addresses of TEPA Electric members per a request made by a separate TEPA member. The member list will be provided in writing, and TEPA will be reimbursed for its reproduction cost, and the member will be required to sign a non-disclosure statement to protect the confidentiality rights of TEPA's members.

--Adjourned at approximately 8:45 p.m.

DEC. 21

Minutes of Special Meeting of the Board of Directors of Tippah Electric Power Association Dec. 21, 2009, reflected the following actions.

The meeting was called to order by President Wallace Tomlinson at 6 p.m. Board members present included Wallace Tomlinson, Stanley Rolfe, Tim McMillin, John Reid, and Shan Tidwell. Board members Erskine Cummings, Harry Shelly, and Fred Permenter were absent. Others present at the meeting included Sam Buchanan, Brad Dillard, John Stubbs and various candidates for director.

The board retained Weatherall's in Tupelo as the printer for director election runoff ballots.

The special meeting was adjourned by Board President Wallace Tomlinson at approximately 6:50 p.m.