DeKalb Sanitary District Board Meeting Minutes
DeKalb Sanitary District
January 18, 2006
Minutes
Approved February 22, 2006
The January meeting of the DeKalb Sanitary District Board of Trustees was held at the office of the District at noon on January 18, 2006. In attendance were Trustees Dennis Collins, Tim Struthers and Carol Zar and Attorney for the District Keith Foster and District Treasurer Richard Stokke. Michael Zima, District Manager; Janice Tripp, Assistant Manager Administration; Steve Olsen, Plant Foreman; and Betty Jones, Secretary were present. Scott Trotter, P.E. and Mark Eddington, P.E. of Trotter & Associates attended. Jeffrey Lewis, Attorney was present representing Tom Gleichman.
President of the Board Collins called the meeting to order.
Trustee Collins moved and Trustee Zar seconded approval of the January agenda. Motion carried.
Trustee Struthers moved approval of the December minutes. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried.
Trustee Collins moved to approve the transfer of $285,000.00 from the Revenue Fund to the O & M Fund. Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried.
Trustee Collins moved to pay bills as presented. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried.
Attorney Lewis addressed the Board during the Public Input portion of that meeting concerning the issue listed as agenda item #14. He was representing Tom Gleichman in requesting consideration from the Board for damages done to the Gleichman property at 2640 Greenwood Acres Drive. That property had 14 inches of sewage in the basement from a sewer backup in that area on December 27, 2005. Because the property is vacant, the problem was not discovered until a week later. Remediation is ongoing, and damages are expected to be quite high.
Steve Olsen, Plant Foreman explained that the District received a call from 2657 Greenwood Acres Drive at 1 p.m. on December 27, 2005. There was approximately one-inch of water in that basement. No other calls were received from the area. During the five hours District crews spent there attempting to correct the surcharge in the public mains on the afternoon of December 27, they discovered the public sewer was blocked by grease. As the only commercial cooking establishment contributing to that line is the DeKalb Area Retirement Center, an inspection of their grease trap followed. The grease trap was found to be full. The discharge of grease to the public main is illegal under any circumstances, and the Center maintenance staff was so informed.
The Trustees found no fault with what the District collections staff did, but expressed sympathy to the Gleichmans. Janice Tripp has already notified the District’s insurance carrier of the situation. Mike Zima continues working with DeKalb Area Retirement to determine the cause of their grease problem. Attorney Lewis will communicate the new information received today to his clients and their insurance carrier and get back in touch with Mike.
Treasurer Stokke presented the Treasurer’s Report.
The Engineer’s Report was submitted in writing and discussion was deferred to the individual items later on the agenda.
Mike had received no plans for review.
Trotter and Associates will present the Executive Summary of the Facilities Plan Update at next month’s meeting.
Mark Eddington, Steve Olsen and Mike Zima described the problems experienced this month with failure at the Lion’s Park Lift Station and jointly recommended putting aside the Country Club Lift Station Improvements Project until next year (planning study has been completed) and starting on a study for the needed improvements at Lion’s Park with hopes of construction there beginning in the fall of 2006. The Trustees agreed to have an engineering agreement prepared for consideration at the next meeting.
Scott Trotter requested that the District get a boundary survey done at the plant, Country Club and Lion’s Park Lift Station, the Trustees agreed, and Mike Zima was instructed to have these done.
Scott Trotter recommended that the District proceed with purchase of acreage for wetlands mitigation to enable the relocation of the drainage ditch on the plant site. Trustee Collins moved approval of this idea and Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried.
Mark Eddington will present the financial reports from six comparable Sanitary Districts, as requested by the Trustees, at the February meeting.
Expansion of the District’s F.P.A. south and north to more closely match the DeKalb Comprehensive Plan was discussed and approved by a motion made by Trustee Struthers and seconded by Trustee Zar. Trustee Collins recused himself from the vote as a property owner in that area. Motion carried. Trotter & Associates will begin the necessary paperwork to amend DSD’s Water Quality Management Plan (F.P.A.).
Trustee Collins moved and Trustee Struthers seconded approval of the 2006 Sewer Lining Project, which will include the lining of 25 sewer and 9 storm mains. Motion carried. The necessary repairs were identified by the District’s own SSES project.
There will be no formal Spot Repair project for 2006 and any necessary repairs will be handled through the District’s emergency spot repair procedure.
Mike Zima presented his Sewer Charge Refund Program information bulletin which had been amended according to feedback received. It was approved with minor alterations and District staff will begin the distribution process. Janice Tripp was given the go ahead to advertise for bids for the retrofitting of the existing submeters.
An Ordinance establishing fees for engineering plan review and construction inspection has been drafted by Mike Zima, Janice Tripp and Keith Foster. It was presented for review and will be considered at the next meeting.
Mike reported on the progress of the District’s request for certain amendments to the new NPDES permit.
The Board heard the status of the Cavel International pretreatment permit. They will be receiving fines under an administrative order and the list of their violations over the past year will be published.
Janice informed the Board on the upcoming renewal of insurance for property, general liability, and inland marine and received approval of the purchase by a motion made by Trustee Collins and seconded by Trustee Zar. Motion carried.
There were no requests for catastrophic water loss relief.
Trustee Struthers has a conflict with the February meeting and asked that it be changed to February 22, 2006. Trustee Collins moved to make that change. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried.
In new business, Steve Olsen informed the Trustees about the results of the bidding for 2006 chemical suppliers and the increase in bisulfite costs and the potential impact on budgeting.
Trustee Collins moved and Trustee Struthers seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. Trustee Collins adjourned the meeting.
Dennis J. Collins, President