DeKalb Sanitary District Board Meeting Minutes
DeKalb Sanitary District
May 2, 2007
Special Meeting Minutes
Approved June 19, 2007
A special meeting of the DeKalb Sanitary District Board of Trustees was held at the office of the District at 1 p.m. on May 2, 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 attended. Scott Trotter and Mark Eddington of Trotter & Associates Engineers were present.
Trustee Collins called the meeting to order.
Trustee Struthers moved approval of the April minutes. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried.
Trustee Collins adjourned the meeting.
DeKalb Sanitary District
May 15, 2007
Regular Meeting Minutes
Approved June 19, 2007
The May meeting of the DeKalb Sanitary District Board of Trustees was held at the office of the District at 5 p.m. on May 15, 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. Rick Monas and Bryan Faivre of the City of DeKalb attended. Citizens and representatives of news media were present.
President of the Board Collins called the meeting to order.
Trustee Zar suggested changing the agenda to move discussion of the Cavel issue forward in the agenda. Trustee Struthers moved and Trustee Collins seconded approval of the May agenda with that change. Motion carried.
Trustee Collins moved approval of the April minutes. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried.
Trustee Collins moved to approve the transfer of
- $30,000.00 to the O & M Fund from the Revenue Fund on 5/9/2007
- $200,000.00 to the O & M Fund from the Revenue Fund
- $245,000.00 to the Bond & Interest Fund from the Revenue Fund
- $1,000.00 to the O & M Fund from the Dedicated Tax Public Benefit Fund
Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried.
Trustee Struthers moved to pay bills as presented. Trustee Collins seconded. Motion carried.
During Public Input and Communications, Mark Biernacke of the City of DeKalb had been scheduled to do a presentation on the central TIF district, but the change in meeting times had created a conflict for him. He will plan to attend the June 2007 meeting.
Trustee Collins asked for an update on the status of the Cavel International situation since the last meeting. Mike Zima said that although Cavel had discontinued operations consequent to a court order, they had been allowed to reopen during the appeals process. At the end of March, Cavel had voluntarily disconnected their production tank discharge from the public sewer mains. They are collecting sewage from these tanks into a nurse tank and filling trucks that are hauling it away. The office building sanitary sewer discharge remains connected to the public main.
Trustee Collins questioned Mike about whose jurisdiction this dumping would be under. Mike says that since he does not know the final disposition of the material, he cannot make any judgment about that. In answer to the Trustees’ inquiry about the District’s responsibility under the current conditions, both Mike Zima and Attorney Keith Foster said that the District has neither responsibility nor oversight authority unless the industry in question is discharging to the DeKalb Sanitary District’s sewer collection system.
Asked to summarize the District’s actions in regard to Cavel International’s violation of their Industrial User Discharge Permit, Mike Zima said that Administrative Orders were issued four times since Cavel began operations at its new plant in June of 2004 with increasing fines levied each time. Payment of the $25,500 fine from the third administrative order was made but placed in escrow pending Cavel’s appeal. The District had expected Cavel’s representatives to be present at this meeting to make that appeal, but when the fourth administrative order, entailing fines of $55,000, was sent to Cavel this month, their attorneys contacted Keith Foster and asked that they be allowed to meet with the Board on one occasion to make appeals on both fines. District ordinance dictates the process for Industrial Users who are in violation of their discharge limits, and direct appeal to the Board is allowed. The Board decided that tonight’s meeting will be continued until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 29, 2007, at which time Cavel International’s representatives will be given an opportunity to address them. A meeting between the Industrial User and the District Manager is mandated by the appeals process as the step before the violator may meet with the Trustees. Time will have to be scheduled for someone from Cavel to meet with Mike prior to the meeting with the Trustees. Attorney Foster will contact Cavel’s attorneys with this information.
The Trustees asked Mike Zima what would happen if Cavel asked to reconnect to the public main. Mike said that before that could happen, compliance with discharge limits would have to be demonstrated over time and a new permit would probably have to be issued because of changes Cavel has made in their discharge structure. He would want to see the new permit address limits on mass loadings.
During Public Input:
Julie St. John of 321 Gurler Street in DeKalb, asked questions about who conducted the testing of Cavel’s discharge and was told that DSD staff did. She said that the District should not lower the fine in response to Cavel’s appeal and warned that the company does not, in her estimation, have a good business record.
Kathy Stetford of 12140 Aldrich in Sycamore asked if a homeowner in violation would be allowed the same long process of appeals before paying a fine and was told that the process in question is part of the Industrial User Permit system, which does not apply to homeowners.
Angela Valianos of 1526 Woodland in Sycamore questioned whether the other Industrial Permit holders have had a problem staying in compliance with their Industrial User Permit limits. She was told that there have certainly been violations in the past, but the industrial users corrected their discharge problems before reaching this point.
Thomas from Crossville, Illinois cautioned that DSD should expect Cavel to increase production and urged the Trustees not to allow them to escape paying fines.
Pamela J. Mau of 724 Krpan Court questioned the Board on statements made by Mike Zima and Scott Trotter on different occasions. She said that Mike had stated the plant was operating at 65% of capacity and Scott said 75%. Mike explained how the IEPA assesses capacity in granting IEPA sewer construction permits. Mike said the difference in the percentages probably comes about through use of different time periods or definitions, but they will attempt to reconcile their estimates.
Bryan Faivre, City DeKalb Assistant Director of Public Works Water Resources, made a presentation responding to the Board’s questions about why the revenue stream has been flat despite an increase in population. He acknowledged that his data shows that water sales over the last 30 years have increased very little despite an increase in population. He presented statistics on water use by the university, industrial and commercial users, restaurants, and residential customers. He demonstrated that many residences have less impact on total water use than one high-water use industry. He named industries that have closed or dropped production in recent years. He also presented data to show that the amount of water pumped has remained flat and proportional to water billed, and informed the Board of what the Water Department has been doing to ensure that meters work and all water use is measured.
The Board praised Mr. Faivre for the very enlightening presentation and said that it did help justify the changes in DSD revenues they had not previously understood. They thanked him and the City of DeKalb for the work they do on behalf of the District.
Treasurer Stokke presented the Treasurer’s Report and discussed investments.
There had been no requests for annexations or pre-annexations this month.
Trustee Struthers moved that officers for the 2007-2008 Fiscal Year be Dennis Collins as President, Timothy Struthers as Vice President, Carol Zar as Clerk and Janice Tripp as Assistant Clerk. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried.
The Intergovernmental Agreement with the Town of Cortland allotting a share of the remaining capacity on the 15-inch pipe that extends across the airport to Cortland has been finalized and signed by both municipalities. As per the DeKalb Sanitary District Board’s instructions at the January 2007 meeting, no more than one-half of the remaining capacity will be allowed to the Town of Cortland. A service agreement will be developed granting that capacity first to the Grainger Townhomes and Phase 2 of Robinson Farms because Cortland has already allowed those homes to be physically connected to the infrastructure that the District services under its old agreement with Cortland. Each house must pay a connection fee and if the house is occupied before the Town of Cortland disconnects from the DeKalb Sanitary District that fee will be non-refundable.
Keith Foster continues work with City of DeKalb attorneys on the Intergovernmental Agreement for compensating the City for metering and billing services on behalf of the District.
In Plan Review, Mike showed layout of the proposed small addition to the Target Store on Sycamore Road.
Because of Northern Illinois University’s position as a state agency, they do not require City of DeKalb permits for construction. The Board discussed the application of the District’s connection fee process to the University and agreed to allow payment of fees as deductions from secondary meter refunds as long as 5% interest is applied to connection fees outstanding.
The Engineer’s Report was submitted by Trotter & Associates in writing and discussion was deferred to the individual items later in the agenda.
Scott Trotter reported that the Facilities Plan is being updated based on instructions from the Board. Jim Schneider spoke to urge the Board to not do unnecessary expansion, and to take into consideration Cortland’s leaving the system and the information received from the City of DeKalb about water use statistics before adopting the plan. Trustee Collins clarified for Mr. Schneider that the Facilities Plan is a document delineating an orderly response to community needs for the next 20 years which is required of the District by the IEPA. He said that there is no way that adopting the plan will trigger either growth or expansion. District Engineer Scott Trotter said the only recommendations being made by his firm concern upgrading the plant to meet present and anticipated increasingly stringent regulatory requirements. Trustee Struthers pointed out that in keeping 70 year old treatment equipment in operation the Board has been very conservative and responsible to its users. He said it is not reasonable to assume that equipment this old can continue to meet the demands of our NPDES discharge permit. Trustee Zar said that while the plan lays out what the District will do as demand on it increases, the Board has made no decision on when expansion will take place and that the current issue is not growth but meeting EPA regulations for the existing population.
Mark Eddington says that architectural elevations for the proposed new Lions Park Lift Station were presented to the Park District Board last week. He is working with the City of DeKalb in regard to Floodplain Construction permitting and has received a letter of no objection to the plan from the Army Corps of Engineers. The completion of final engineering is expected prior to the June Board of Trustee’s Meeting.
Janice Tripp, Assistant Manager Administration, reported that insurance and bonding submitted by Insituform Technologies, the low bidder for the 2007 Lining Project were satisfactory. Trustee Collins moved and Trustee Zar seconded issuing the Notice to Proceed. The motion carried. A preconstruction meeting between the contractor, the District, the City of DeKalb, and Trotter & Associates is scheduled for Thursday.
Elliott & Wood will be beginning the 2007 Spot Repairs this week or next.
The Storm Water Improvements – Wetlands Mitigation Project remains on hold.
The Emergency Response Plan will be presented at the August meeting.
Trustee Zar moved and Trustee Struthers seconded a donation of $1,000 to be taken from the Public Benefit Fund for donation to the DeKalb Economic Development Corporation in response to their request. Trustee Collins and Trustee Struthers noted conflicts of interest as members of the Board of that organization. Motion carried.
Janice Tripp presented the request of Linda Perkins of 918 South 5th for consideration in the amount of $467.20 on sewer charges for water that leaked out of a broken pipe in their garage and flowed down the driveway and into the storm sewer. The situation had been observed by District staff to be as described. Trustee Collins moved and Trustee Struthers seconded approval. Motion carried.
In New Business, Mike Zima reported on his attendance at a Citizens Environmental Commission meeting and on a pending amendment to our NPDES permit to reduce zinc testing and removal requirements.
Janice Tripp discussed summer work at the District’s 1109 Sycamore Road property. A dead oak tree that hangs over Sycamore Road and presents a hazard to pedestrians and traffic will be removed at the Board’s direction. She will get estimates on the removal of some other trees and bushes. The Board agreed to accept the renter’s proposal to supply the labor of painting the house in return for having the rent remain at its present level instead of increasing.
Trustee Collins moved to continue the meeting until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 29, 2007 for the purpose of hearing the Cavel International appeal on the matter of fines for Industrial User Discharge Permit Violations as described above. Trustee Struthers seconded. The motion carried, and the meeting was continued.
DeKalb Sanitary District
May 29, 2007
Continued Meeting Minutes
Approved June 19, 2007
The May meeting of the DeKalb Sanitary District Board of Trustees having been continued for the purpose of allowing Cavel International to make an appeal to the fines levied against them for violations of their Industrial User Discharge Permit, the Board met at the office of the District at 5 p.m. on May 29, 2007. In attendance were Trustees Collins, Struthers and Zar, Attorney for the District Keith Foster, District Manager Michael Zima, Assistant Manager Administration Janice Tripp, Plant Foreman Steve Olsen, Secretary Betty Jones. Representing Cavel International were Manager Jim Tucker and Attorney Vincent Atriano. A number of interested persons attended.
Trustee Collins called the meeting to order and explained to those present that the purpose of the meeting was to allow Cavel the appeal that is their right under the District’s enforcement procedures, and that no public input was scheduled for this meeting.
At Trustee Collins request, Michael Zima presented a history of the District’s attempts to encourage Cavel to achieve compliance with their Industrial User Discharge Permit Limits. This included: Administrative Order #1 dated 3/17/2005: A fine of $500.00 for calendar year 2004 violations, which has been paid; Administrative Order #2 dated 1/30/2006: A fine of $500.00 for each month in which any monthly average limitation was exceeded (11 months during 2005 totaling $5,500.00.), which has been paid; Administrative Order #3 dated 10/18/2006: A fine of $500.00 for each discharge violation occurring in January through September 2006 (51 violations totaling $25,500.00), which has been paid and is now held by the District in escrow; and Administrative Order #4 dated May 1, 2007: A fine of $1,000.00 for each discharge violation occurring in October 2006 through March 2007, which has not been paid.
Attorney Atriano presented a history of Cavel’s responses to the District’s directives and his evaluation of the District’s enforcement procedures. He objected to the District’s continuing fines after August 2006 while Cavel was installing new pretreatment equipment aimed at achieving compliance. He asserted that since Cavel had “come into compliance” by 3/31/2007 (having disconnected their discharge from the public system on 3/30/2007) Administrative Order #4 should not have been issued.
He requested that Administrative Order #4, which levied $55,000 in fines against Cavel be vacated. He requested that the $25,500 fine levied by Administrative Order #3 and now held in escrow by the District be returned to Cavel with the exception of a $10,000.00 penalty.
The Board agreed to consider Attorney Atriano’s arguments. The next Board consideration of the matter will be at the June 19, 2007 Board Meeting.
Trustee Struthers moved and Trustee Collins seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. Trustee Collins adjourned the meeting.
Dennis J. Collins, President