DeKalb Sanitary District Board Meeting Minutes
DeKalb Sanitary District
March 15, 2006
Minutes
Approved April 19, 2006
The March meeting of the DeKalb Sanitary District Board of Trustees was held at the office of the District at noon on March 15, 2006. In attendance were Trustees Dennis Collins, Tim Struthers and Carol Zar and Attorney for the District Keith Foster. 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, as did Ray Keller, City of DeKalb Planner. Alan Metzger of 814 Lawnwood and Jeffrey Lewis, Attorney representing Tom Gleichman attended for a portion of the meeting.
President of the Board Collins called the meeting to order.
Trustee Collins moved and Trustee Struthers seconded approval of the March agenda. Motion carried.
Trustee Struthers moved approval of the February minutes. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried.
Agenda Item #13 was moved forward to accommodate Attorney Lewis, who asked the District for any evidence they possessed to demonstrate that DeKalb Area Retirement Center had contributed to the sewer backup at 2640 Greenwood Acres Drive by allowing grease to enter the public sewer line. He was shown a video tape of the sewer mains in the area, which showed grease deposits in the mains coming out of the Retirement Center and none in the neighboring lines that don’t connect to them. He requested a copy of the tape and asked if he could invite representatives of DeKalb Area Retirement Center in to view the tape. Mike Zima agreed to this.
Trustee Collins moved to approve the transfer of $200,000.00 from the Revenue Fund to the O & M Fund. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried.
Trustee Collins moved to pay bills as presented. Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried.
During the public input portion of the meeting, Mr. Metzger questioned the Board about expansion plans and expressed the concerns he and his neighbors are feeling at seeing surveyors at the District. Trustee Collins explained that the Facilities Plan Update will soon come under consideration, but that before any engineering contracts for expansion are let, he would expect to meet with the District’s neighbors and explain the plans. He did explain that the District is today considering a project to relocate the stream so that more contiguous District land will be available for future development. He stated that the District will do its best, as it has in the past, to provide shielding landscaping at our boundary with the neighbors. Mr. Metzger asked about being allowed to plant wild flowers on the District’s property, but the Board declined to address that until a decision had been made about the stream relocation.
In Treasurer Stokke’s absence, Janice Tripp, Assistant Manager Administration, informed the Trustees of investments made last month and planned for the coming month.
After discussion, Trustee Collins moved and Trustee Zar seconded passage of Ordinance #496, An Ordinance Establishing Plan Review Fees. Motion carried.
Discussion of the draft Budget for 2006-2007 was deferred until the end of the meeting.
Engineer’s Report was deferred to the individual items later in the meeting.
Mike Zima reported on the plans for NIU’s Academic and Athletic Performance Center. A connection fee for the facility has been established and will be collected by the District.
Trotter & Associates requested a workshop on the Executive Summary of the Facilities Plan Update that they gave the Trustees in written form last meeting. The Board will consider the workshop at a later date.
Mark Eddington said that the 2006 Lining Project will include the lining of 28 sewer and 9 storm segments and 2 minor repairs. He expects to advertise for bids later this month.
Trotter & Associates recommend a meeting with the DeKalb Park District as to the possibility of restoring the present site of the Lion’s Park Lift Stations and placing the new lift station so as to interfere less with park visitors.
Trotter & Associates presented to the Board a proposal to do the engineering, design and construction of a Stormwater Improvements -- Wetlands Mitigation Project. The project would relocate the ditch on the District’s property so as to make about 5 more acres useable for future plant expansion. A stream would be dug to redirect storm water to the river. They recommended that since a topological survey must be done as part of that project, it would be more cost effective to have the entire plant site topo surveyed in preparation for future plant expansion. Trustee Collins moved and Trustee Zar seconded acceptance of the contract at a cost of $130,100.00. Motion carried.
Trotter & Associates presented applications for expansion of the District Facilities Planning Area for the District’s signature. After discussion, the Board directed Mike Zima to sign the applications and begin the process of expanding the District’s north and south boundaries.
As to the intergovernmental agreement with the City of DeKalb for billing, the Board instructed Mike Zima to request the City Finance office to propose a fee for Fiscal Year 2006-2007 billing services.
Mike Zima relayed a request received from Tom Simmonds, Engineer for the Town of Cortland to allow a F.P.A. variance so that Cortland could serve DeKalb Packing. The Board asked Mike to solicit the City of DeKalb’s input and get more information on the proposal before they consider the request.
At the request of the developer and the City of DeKalb, the Board agreed to consider allowing a water main across District property to serve the Parkside Oaks development. Keith Foster is to work with the City on the wording of the agreement, and the Board will act on it.
Mike Zima reported on the District’s NPDES permit which was issued by the IEPA for the next 5 years, with no changes from the draft permit earlier given to the Trustees.
Rockford Blacktop has asked to use 3 acres of the District’s south slope property as a staging area for concrete crushing while they work on a tollway project. The Board asked Mike Zima to have them submit a more specific proposal with the details of the time period and their restoration plans.
There were no catastrophic relief requests.
In new business, Janice Tripp told the Trustees about the request by Laidlaw Bus Company to use the District’s turn around.
Trustee Collins reported on his telephone conversation with Mayor Van Buer.
Janice Tripp and Mike Zima presented the Draft 2006-2007 Fiscal Year Budget to the Trustees for review.
Trustee Collins moved and Trustee Struthers seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. Trustee Collins adjourned the meeting.
Dennis J. Collins, President