Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gurdon Water And Sewer Audit Clean

Gurdon's Water and Sewer Department got a clean audit for its fiscal year 1997-98

Ron Rodgers, with the Certified Public Accounting firm of Taylor, Rodgers, Turner and Malone Ltd., said more information was required this year, but this was because the department received more federal funds. In addition, he said, the federal government is requiring more data for its reports as well.

The department received a grant and loan from the Rural Development Agency as well as grant money from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This year, he said, they also require copies of the audit report. These copies must be signed by Rodgers and Harold Hurst, the manager of the department.

The assets increased by $1.1 million, and the plant equipment is also up by about $1 million because of the work done on the rural water project.

The liabilities didn't increase as much, and the long-term debt was at $100,000, but doesn't include the department's loans.

While it appears as though the department may have a lot of money, Rodgers said, it really doesn't. Keeping a water and sewer system maintained and operational isn't cheap, and the department doesn't have money to "throw around."

The lone blemish on the report was the accountant's inability to find written documentation on department funds being protected in Mercantile bank. In years past, Rodgers said, the bank (formerly Horizon) had bonds to cover the amount not covered by the FDIC insurance plan. Paperwork for this could not be found this year, he said.

What appeared to be a problem corrected itself when the new rural water system went on line. Before it became operational, the bond wasn't large enough to cover a year's debt payment. However, when it started up, this changed.

Rodgers added the department has not had to ask for a rate increase on its own, and, in fact, only raised rates the last time when forced by the lending agencies.

In other business, Hurst said Ami Village has closed, but is still owned by the same person. While the owner plans to do something else with the old hospital facility, Hurst wasn't sure what it was. He said, though, until the current bill is paid, the water will not be turned back on to the building.

The dump truck the department recently purchased had its transmission go out. Danny Paull, a member of the Gurdon Water and Sewer Commission, said one of the nylon pieces on the shift fork broke and the transmission won't go in gear. These pieces also help synchronize the transmission, he said.

Because of the way this transmission is built, all three nylon pieces had to be ordered. Paull said it would cost less than $1,500 to repair.

Charles Summerford's office has voiced displeasure over the clean up progress for the rural water project. Hurst said things were going well for a two-man crew for a while, but the crew hasn't shown up in the past couple of days.

He said there is still a lot of clean up work left to be done, though quite a bit has been done already.

Summerford wants to contact the contractor's bond company, as the contractor had to put up a performance bond. Getting the bond company involved, Hurst said, could expedite the clean up process considerably.