I. President’s Corner

The state of Beaches Water Co-op is good. We currently have 8 wells at six pump locations that serve our community of almost 800 homes, with only minor interruptions due to repair and maintenance work. Our water continues to be safe and clean, and pass all regulatory standards. For this we thank the Business Manager, Dennis DiBello, the office crew and Jim Stone, the Water Superintendent and his crew of helpers, and the plumbers he contracts. Fiscally, the co-op is in good shape, our revenues continue to meet our expenses, and there will be no rate increase in the upcoming year.

Our physical water system is in good shape overall, but much of it is aging and in need of ongoing repair and maintenance. Our focus in the upcoming year will be to continue to maintain and repair the existing system, in particular, maintenance on our water tanks, which need repair and cleaning and touch ups both internally and externally. We also expect to continue the project to replace all remaining galvanized water lines in the system, as required by EPA in their lead abatement regulations.

There are two recent matters to bring to the co-op's attention. First, after a long consideration of the costs and benefits, the board, with the agreement of the Business Manager and the Water Superintendent, has decided to forgo the loan from MDE to replace all remaining galvanized water lines, while opting to continue the work on the system as planned. This will avoid the commitment to a long-term loan, while allowing us the flexibility to use local, trusted contractors to carry out the work. We estimate 5 years to carry out the project, at a lower cost to the co-op.

Second, the co-op's by-laws require a yearly financial audit, but because of ENRON reforms, the complexity and cost of financial audits has sky rocketed in recent years. Our usual auditor's prices nearly doubled between 2024 and 2025 fiscal years. As a result we are changing auditors, but will still face a stiff increase. We are, therefore, asking members to vote for a change in the bylaws to allow a less expensive financial review by an auditing firm, more akin to the original intent of the bylaws.

Gary Clark having resigned after many years of service, the board of directors currently has six of seven allowed members; myself, Vice President Frank DiGeorge, Secretary/Treasurer Tom Forgette, and members John Collins, Paul Murdoch and Teresa Wheeler. On their behalf I thank Dennis and his crew, Cheryl Houchen and Debbie Simmons, Jim Stone and his crew of helpers, Michael Clarke, as well as the ?ladies auxiliary,? Kathy Collins, Georgia Riedel, Debbie Berens, and Jean Bozman for their voluntary help with mailings. We also thank our members for their continued support. We encourage anyone interested in becoming a board member to reach out to us.

The next annual meeting of the Co-op is scheduled for 3:00 PM Sept. 14, Sunday, at the Long Beach Civic Association building. We look forward to seeing you there.

II. Water System Operations, Maintenance & Improvements

Welcome to Summer 2025.

The Operations and Maintenance aspects of the Beaches Water Co-op system are my focus while providing co-op members with safe, clean, and reliable water service year-round. That said, our current goals are the cleaning and inspection of water tanks and replacement of old water piping. To-date we have opened, cleaned and inspected a few of our water tanks since late spring. I am glad to report that the tanks opened to date are in good condition. More tanks will be scheduled in the near term.

As with any utility, system age and wear and tear takes its toll. While our above ground infrastructure is relatively new, certain water mains and associated valves need replacement. Most of this piping is 60-70 years old. That said, this is costly, but work must be done. We are using our capital monies to replace old piping in one or more priority streets per year. In the last four years BWC has replaced portions of or all of water main and service line piping in Douglas St., Floral Ct. and Circle and Long Beach Rd. Lastly, it is expected that the water main piping replacement will take several years.

As an advocate of and in support of saving water, I ask all to conserve water, especially now that summer is upon us. For inside water use, we provide at cost shower heads, shower wands, and faucet aerators designed to be more efficient to aid in conserving water use. For outside water use, consider irrigating your yard before the sun rises to minimize water evaporation. Anything to save water is a good thing and reduces your cost.

If you have any questions about the Operation or Maintenance of the BWC system, please give us a call.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Jim Stone
Superintendent

III. Financials & Water Rates

BEACHES WATER CO-OP CUSTOMER WEB PORTAL

• One-step secure bill payment with "Quick Pay"
• Credit cards, Debit cards and ACH Bank Draft Payments
• Sign up for recurring payments
• Use the electronic wallet feature to store payment methods (secured)
• Sign up for paperless services via email
• Manage your account settings

Visit our website @ www.beacheswater.com and click on the Make a Payment / Customer Portal link to set-up your account.

We encourage our customers to review their bill in its entirety - Did you know that the meters are so sensitive that they can detect a possible water leak, a dripping faucet or something that is running continuously? In these events **Meter Indicates a Possible Leak** will appear on your bill. We also have Company Notes on your bill with useful tips and information each month.

2024 Annual Water Quality & Consumer Confidence Report

We are pleased to present to you the Annual Water Quality Report (Consumer Confidence Report) for the year, for the period of January 1 to December 31, 2024. This report is intended to provide you with important information about your drinking water and the efforts made by the water system to provide safe drinking water. (Este informe contiene informacion muy importante sobre su agua potable. Traduzcalo o hable con alguien que lo entienda bien).

• Name: James Stone, Superintendent
• Phone: 410-586-8710

• Microbial contaminants - such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife.
• Inorganic contaminants - such as salts and metals, which can be naturally-occurring or result from urban storm water runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming.
• Pesticides and herbicides - which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban storm water runoff, and residential uses.
• Organic chemical contaminants - including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban storm water runoff, and septic systems.
• Radioactive contaminants - which can be naturally-occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.

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