I am pleased to report to the membership that Davidson Water, Inc. has 63,770 total connections and 57,229 active meters. That is an increase of 681 active taps from the prior year. Currently, the company has 79 full-time employees and 1 part-time employee.

Navigating COVID-19: I don’t believe anyone can argue how Covid-19 has consumed our lives the past year. With the onset of COVID-19 in March of 2020, Davidson Water placed priority on protecting our staff and thereby protecting our operations. As essential workers, we enacted safety protocols to minimize direct contact, instituted remote work solutions for many of our office staff, and committed funding towards creating safe workstations for those still in the workplace, providing appropriate PPE and implementing new standards for sanitation of our shared spaces. Though nearly half of our employees have been impacted in some way by COVID-19 within the past year, thus far, our measures have prevented internal outbreaks. We appreciate all of the effort employees have put forth to protect each other. These efforts allow us to maintain our standards of high quality service to our members.

Water Treatment Plant and Water Quality: Our average daily flow was 10.6 MGD and peak flow was just under 15 MGD. We completed several projects including: the C.O. Pickle Plant administrative renovation project, a chlorine system improvement study and subsequently approved to do a bleach conversion from chlorine gas for our disinfectant, and the required US EPA fourth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule testing which resulted in no concerns at this time. We became a “Zero Flow Discharge” facility by recycling 100% of our process water. Also, we sponsored an Intern from Yadkin Valley Regional Career Academy.

Distribution: Our distribution system saw line upgrades, line extensions, and pipe relocation of 9 miles of new line and 1.5 miles of replaced pipe. We had over 55 active projects including upgraded replacement pipe as follows: 16” on Holly Grove Rd, 16” on Tower Road, 6” on Ball road, 6” on Sylvan Trail, and 12” on Surratt Drive. We started construction on a major project with the replacement of the Hwy 109 Pump Station in Thomasville. It is near completion and will begin operation soon. The new pump station along with the aforementioned large line work will provide water for future growth as well as replace some troublesome lines to the eastern end of Davidson County and Randolph County. Other projects included business fire lines and numerous new subdivisions.

Meter Services: Our meter department installed 3,029 radio read meters bringing the total number in our system to 54,725. We plan to have all meters replaced with AMR (Automatic Meter Read) technology in the next year.

Customer Service and IT: We have experienced nearly a 10% increase in water payments made online over the previous year. Although we have been trending towards more online payments, we believe Covid-19 and the lobby being closed are reasons for most of that increase. The impact of Covid-19 was felt by our employees as we had to adjust quickly. Early in the pandemic, operational adjustments were made to help minimize contact between employees. We increased our VPN licenses, and utilized laptops to allow more employees to work remotely where possible.

As our world becomes more technologically connected, cyber-security becomes a more relevant concern. We have increased our resources and efforts towards improving cyber-security vulnerability.

Employee Giving & Community Outreach: Davidson Water employees have demonstrated an admirable need to give back to the community in more ways than one. This year our annual United Way campaign contributions totaled $8,583.74. Our annual Food Drive at Christmas is always a huge success. This year employees contributed $950 in cash and 1,016 lbs. of food for Greater Things Outreach Center in Welcome. We also contributed over $1,182 in Christmas gifts to Angel Tree children.

Scholarships: Davidson Water annually awards four college scholarships in the amount of $2,000.00 each to deserving high school seniors in memory of past board members. Last year’s recipients were: Addison Parrish, Trinity High School; Carmen Davis, West Davidson High School; Marris Meyer, Ledford High School; and Mohamed Ali, West Davidson High School.

Davidson Water also awarded four $1,000.00 scholarships to students attending Davidson County Community College. Last year’s recipients were: Alena Tyre, Central Davidson High School; Jacob Nifong, Ledford High School; Kaleb Brown, North Davidson High School; and Kealey Williamson, East Davidson High School.

I am sad to report on the death of one of our board members last year. LeeAnn Tuttle-Thomas passed away unexpectedly last September. At last year’s annual meeting, LeeAnn was re-elected to serve a second term on the board of directors. She served on the Scholarship Committee as well as the 50th Anniversary Celebration Committee. We truly lost a great talent and we will miss her greatly.

Our company is fortunate to have community stewards serve on our board of directors. One of whom is retiring from the board tonight. I want to recognize Rick Motsinger for 24 years of service on the board. Rick has served as a Director since 1997. During this tenure, he has served on multiple committees, most notably the Scholarship Committee. Rick, we thank you for your service.

In closing, I want to emphasize our commitment to our mission of providing safe, reliable water to our members at the lowest possible cost. We will continue to do that with the leadership of our board and management, the expert guidance of our professional partners, the dedication and expertise of our employees, and the support of our members. Thank you.

Ron Sink, General Manager