Koontz win big TV at FEC meeting, board of directors re-elected
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Approximately 1,000 people of all ages attended the 67th Annual Meeting of Farmers’ Electric Cooperative held June 7, at the Gary Dickinson Performing Arts Center in Chillicothe.
Member/owners of the cooperative re-elected three members to FEC’s board of directors and over 140 door prizes were given away at the conclusion of the business meeting. Lloyd and Mildred Koontz, Norborne, won the grand prize, a 52-inch big screen television.
Leading the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of the annual Meeting were two first cousins, Sgt. Nick Norman and Specialist Gabe Rodenberg. Both men recently returned from overseas military duty. Sgt. Norman served 13 months in Iraq and Spec. Rodenberg served 14 months in Germany.
Following the Pledge of Allegiance, FEC employee Joe Hardie gave the invocation.
Re-elected to the cooperative’s board of directors were Leroy Kern, Polo, Butch Bisbee, Norborne, and W.D. Richards III, Keytesville.
Board President Ron Cornett called the meeting to order shortly after 7 p.m. Cornett provided a summary of the past year for the members and in his final remarks noted that FEC Executive Vice-president/CEO Dan Bryan would be retiring in June of 2006. Cornett thanked Bryan for his years of service to the cooperative, citing his leadership in directing the cooperative over nearly a quarter of a century.
Bryan, in his report to the membership, cited the continuing economic development efforts by FEC, which have included adding more than 600 jobs at the cooperative’s industrial parks in Chillicothe and Gallatin. He also briefly discussed the new power plant to be constructed near Norborne.
“As we announced in your June Rural Missouri magazine, we are converting to an automatic meter reading system,” Bryan said. “This new system will open up new opportunities for you, plus it will allow us to improve our service reliability.”
The initial AMR installations will focus on the substations that serve areas in and around Laclede, Meadville and Hale, Bryan said. Approximately 9,000 AMR systems will be installed throughout the cooperative’s service territory in the next 36 months.
Bryan also recognized two FEC employees, Don and Lana Boswell, who were leaving the day after the annual meeting on a two-week missionary trip to South America. The Boswell’s were presented with a unique “survival” kit to insure their safe return later this month.
FEC attorney Lloyd Cleveland conducted the business meeting of the cooperative, which included the election of the members to the board of directors, as well as the election of the 2006 Committee on Nominations. Elected to the Committee on Nominations were Kenneth Lee, Dennis Farmer, James A. Waters, Vernon L. Williams, Charlotte F. Miller, Judy Holcer and Dennis Widhalm.