DeKalb Sanitary District Board Meeting Minutes
DeKalb Sanitary District
March 2007
Minutes
Approved April 18, 2007
DeKalb Sanitary District
March 14, 2007
Workshop Minutes
A workshop meeting of the DeKalb Sanitary District Board of Trustees was held at the office of the District at noon on March 14, 2007. Trustees Dennis Collins, Timothy Struthers, and Carol Zar were present. Michael Zima, District Manager; Janice Tripp, Assistant Manager Administration and Steve Olsen, Plant Foreman also attended. Scott Trotter and Mark Eddington of Trotter & Associates Engineers participated in the workshop, as did Troy Stinson and Randall Wirtz of Strand Associates Engineers.
Stinson and Randall presented a written summary and discussed and answered questions about their opinion of the Facilities Plan Update developed by Trotter & Associates, who also participated in the discussion.
No action was taken on the Facilities Plan Update at this Workshop session. The Board will consider the Strand feedback and their own evaluation of the Facilities Plan Update in preparation for a formal vote on the Facilities Plan Update at a regular meeting.
Trustee Collins moved to adjourn the workshop. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried. Trustee Collins adjourned the workshop.
DeKalb Sanitary District
March 14, 2007
Special Meeting Minutes
A special meeting of the DeKalb Sanitary District Board of Trustees was held at the office of the District at 1:30 p.m. on March 14, 2007. Trustees Dennis Collins, Timothy Struthers, and Carol Zar were present. Michael Zima, District Manager; Janice Tripp, Assistant Manager Administration; Steve Olsen, Plant Foreman and Betty Jones, Secretary also attended. Scott Trotter and Mark Eddington of Trotter & Associates Engineers were present.
Trustee Collins called the meeting to order. Trustee Struthers moved and Trustee Zar seconded a motion for a brief recess. The motion carried.
When the recess ended and the meeting resumed, Trustee Collins moved to go into executive session to discuss property acquisition. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried, and the Board went into executive session.
When the Board returned from Executive Session, Trustee Collins moved to adjourn the meeting. Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried.
Trustee Collins adjourned the meeting.
DeKalb Sanitary District
March 21, 2007
Regular Meeting Minutes
The March meeting of the DeKalb Sanitary District Board of Trustees was held at the office of the District at noon on March 21, 2007. 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. A number of citizens also attended for portions of the meeting.
President of the Board Collins called the meeting to order.
Trustee Collins moved and Trustee Zar seconded approval of the March agenda. Motion carried.
Trustee Struthers moved approval of the February minutes. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried.
Trustee Collins moved to approve the transfer of
- $400,000.00 from the Revenue Fund to the O & M Fund
- $6,405.32 from the Dedicated Tax IMRF Fund to the O & M Fund
- $4,555.61 from the Dedicated Tax FICA Fund to the O & M Fund
Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried.
Janice explained that the City of DeKalb discovered they had been making a read error on the main plant water meter for the past two years. The City and the District have agreed on the amount of under payment that resulted, and a check will be signed today to catch up.
Janice said Trotter & Associates have been working at a loss on the Facilities Plan Update because it has taken so much longer than expected. The Board agreed to consider a compensatory payment. They requested a summary of work done versus work proposed and a summary of the original bids received. They will vote at the April meeting.
Trustee Collins moved to pay bills as presented. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried.
During the Public Input and Communications portion of the meeting, Jim Schneider spoke of his disappointment in the negative coverage of the District by the Daily Chronicle. He said he has seen the Board do good work at the meetings he’s attended. Sam Phelps stated that published comments misrepresented many of the people on Lawnwood and Krpan and expressed his opinion that the Trustees have listened to and helped the neighbors.
Angela Valianos of 1526 Woodland in Sycamore read aloud from a “Memorandum regarding the Citizens of DeKalb’s request for immediate revocation of Cavel International, Inc.’s Industrial User Permit,” which had been signed by herself and Dawn Mancina on behalf of the citizens of DeKalb. The Trustees stated they would review the material and take it under consideration.
Treasurer Stokke gave the Treasurer’s Report.
A draft budget for Fiscal Year 2007-2008 was reviewed.
There had been no requests for Annexation or Pre-Annexation this month.
Representatives of both DeKalb Business Center and Park 88 South have asked to have their presentations to the Board deferred.
The Intergovernmental Agreement to allot the remaining capacity on the 15-inch pipe that extends across the airport to Cortland has been presented to Cortland, but has not yet been signed and returned to the District.
The Intergovernmental Agreement for the City of DeKalb and the DeKalb Sanitary District to share the cost of billing is still under development by City of DeKalb attorneys.
Scott Trotter said that the Illinois Department of Transportation representative told him this month that the correction of the manholes on Sycamore Road should take place within the next 60 days. Otherwise he deferred the Engineer’s Report to the individual items to follow.
The Board felt Strand Engineering’s review of the Facilities Plan Update was worthwhile. They requested a “point-counterpoint” presentation of the differences between the two firms’ suggestions at a workshop.
Scott Trotter reported that the design phase of Engineering on the Lions Park Lift Station Project is about 40% done. IEPA permit applications should be submitted in the next 3 weeks. The project should go out for bid in July.
The District has advertised for bids on the 2007 Sewer Lining Project to be received on April 11. Trotter & Associates will make a recommendation at the April meeting.
Asked by Trustee Collins to respond to statements in the media that the District has not done enough in repairs or has favored one section of town over another, Mike Zima stated that since taking over the collection system from the City of DeKalb in 1987, the District has done work each year in amounts totaling $7.6 million to identify and repair problems in the public system. Sewer calls due to problems with the public mains have decreased from 58 in 1988 to 18 in 2006. Work was prioritized based on an outside flow monitoring review and done on a worst first basis. Janice said all problem areas of town have been done at least twice, and the third iteration of problem identification and repair is proceeding at this time. Scott Trotter said that the District is highly proactive in their approach to correcting collection system problems and that Trotter & Associates often use the District’s system of correcting problems as a model for other municipalities.
Of the 3 bids received for the 2007 Spot Repairs, Elliott & Wood of DeKalb was low. Trotter & Associates recommended accepting their bid. Trustee Collins moved and Trustee Zar seconded awarding the bid to them. Motion carried.
The Storm Water Improvements – Wetlands Mitigation Project remains on hold.
Steve Olsen says that he will have a draft Emergency Response Plan by August.
Mike Zima presented the Quality Assurance Policy developed by Steve Suddeth and Allison Yates in the Laboratory. He has reviewed it and found it satisfactory. The policy will be kept in the lab as per EPA requirements.
Mike Zima reported that Cavel International has improved their biological oxygen demand and total suspended solids effluent readings, but their ammonia levels remain above their discharge limit. If they are not in compliance by March 31, 2007, the District’s compliance enforcement will call for further consequences leading ultimately to a revocation of their permit. Jim Tucker of Cavel International outlined a plan that the company’s engineering consultants have promised will generate a “dramatic drop in ammonia.” Trustee Collins said that the DeKalb Sanitary District must bring Cavel into compliance “by whatever means necessary.” The Board will await the outcome of the District’s daily monitoring of Cavel’s discharge over the next ten days.
Maureen Cassidy of 728 Kimberly Drive, Norma Fitzgerald of 217 Laurel Lane and Stanley and Wanda Croom of 225 West Alden Place requested relief for a high sewer bills. The requests did meet the Catastrophic Loss Relief Policy requirements. Trustee Collins moved to approve the requests. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried.
In New Business, Pamela Mau protested the District deciding to hear the Strand Engineering review of the Facilities Plan Update at a workshop instead of at this meeting because she told people in her neighborhood to come today. She and Loretta Muller said the District is encouraging development and should not. Muller said her greatest concern is what the District plans to do with the creek on its property near her home. They were told the Facilities Plan Update is similar to the City of DeKalb’s Comprehensive Plan and that the Stormwater Mitigation Project they object to remains on hold.
Trustee Collins moved to adjourn the meeting. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried. Trustee Collins adjourned the meeting.
Dennis J. Collins, President