DeKalb Sanitary District Board Meeting Minutes
DeKalb Sanitary District
August 21, 2007
Minutes
Approved September 18, 2007
The August meeting of the DeKalb Sanitary District Board of Trustees was held at the office of the District at 5 p.m. on August 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. 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. Tom Engstrom of 204 Hollister and Jim Schneider also attended.
President of the Board Collins called the meeting to order.
Trustee Struthers moved and Trustee Zar seconded approval of the August agenda. Motion carried.
Trustee Collins moved approval of the July minutes. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried.
Trustee Collins moved to approve the transfer of
- $255,000.00 to the O & M Fund from the Revenue Fund
- $5,212.67 to the O & M Fund from the Dedicated Tax FICA Fund
- $7,059.97 to the O & M Fund from the Dedicated Tax IMRF Fund
Trustee Struthers moved to pay bills as presented. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried.
During Public Input and Communications Tom Engstrom of 204 Hollister Avenue raised two issues. The first was the water main break at 207 Hollister on August 20. He said there have been many breaks, and representatives of the City of DeKalb have told him that aging infrastructure on Hollister is the cause. He asked that the District help Hollister residents by working with the City to see that replacement and rehabilitation is done as soon as possible. The second issue he raised was the August 19 digester fire. He asked what emergency plans are in place to evacuate Hollister Avenue residents in situations like this. Steve Olsen, Plant Foreman, explained that the fire, which was caused by a lightening strike, has never been encountered before and that the flame arresters and other safety equipment already in place did work to prevent explosive combustion. Trustee Collins instructed Steve to include a response to this situation in the Emergency Response Plan currently in development. Trustee Zar acknowledged Steve’s statement that the DeKalb Fire Department rather than the District has the authority to direct evacuations, but instructed that an incident command structure delineating how the District will cooperate with other agencies be part of the ERP.
Jim Schneider said that the minutes of the June 19, 2007 meeting of the Board as posted did not correctly represent his comments at that meeting: “I said that it seemed the Board’s intent was to force Cavel into compliance rather than to punish them, and there was a real administrative cost to the District’s enforcement action. I also spoke of my concern that fines proposed to be levied seemed unusual since the violations weren't causing a malfunction at DSD.” Betty Jones, Secretary apologized for the unintentional misrepresentation.
Treasurer Stokke gave the Treasurer’s Report.
Janice Tripp reported that there will be a delay in the development of the management discussion portion of the Audit for the Fiscal Year ending April 30, 2007 due to the absence of Mike Zima, District Manager who was injured on August 15 in a ladder accident in the DSD Control Building.
There were no requests for annexation or pre-annexation this month.
Janice Tripp, Assistant Manager Administration, presented to the Board Bud Lanan’s request for an interest waiver on the property at 415 Fairview Drive. The District installed sewer main to that area in 1993. At that time, the homeowners were encouraged to participate and the cost of their annexation fees ($1,000 per acre) was applied against the shared cost of construction. The owners of 415 Fairview Drive at that time elected not to participate and were informed that if they needed to hook up in the future they would owe annexation fees and their share of the cost plus 8% per year interest. After discussion, Trustee Collins moved to allow Mr. Lanan to pay connection, annexation, administrative and construction fees in the amount of $6,204.40. Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried.
In Plan Review, there was a brief discussion of the status of the DeKalb County Community Outreach Building at Windsong and the Katz property on Annie Glidden Road.
Scott Trotter provided the Engineer’s Report in writing and deferred discussion to the individual items later in the agenda.
Scott asked permission to delay presentation of the completed Facilities Plan Update until next month. The Trustees requested a visual timeline of milestone dates as identified by the FPU.
Scott Trotter discussed the discrepancy between the Engineer’s estimate and the five bids received August 16 for the Lions Park Lift Station Project. He has confirmed that concrete, piping and excavation costs will exceed his original estimates. Mark Eddington presented the Engineer’s recommendation for the award of the bid to River City Construction who was the low bidder at $2,260,000.00. Janice Tripp explained that the easement necessary to the project has not yet been signed by the DeKalb Park District. After discussion, Trustee Collins moved to award the contract to River City contingent upon receipt of an easement from the Park District and its review by Keith Foster. Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried.
Insituform has completed the lining work on the 2007 Lining Project. The project will not be completed until DSD has completed review of post-lining tapes. Pay Request #2 in the amount of $84,872.70 was paid with today’s bills. Mark said that Trotter & Associates did send Insituform a letter protesting their violation of the City of DeKalb’s prohibition on closing streets without prior permission from the City.
The Spot Repairs 2007 project which was completed by Elliott & Wood required quantity adjustments. Trustee Collins moved and Trustee Zar seconded Change Order #2 for an increase of $17, 712.81. Motion carried. Their Final Pay Request in the amount of $4,785.92 was paid with today’s bills.
Further work on the development of a lateral program will await Mike Zima’s return.
Steve Olsen presented the initial draft of an Emergency Response Plan for the Trustee’s review. Trustee Struthers recommended making individual sections of the plan to deal with specific types of emergencies so that a concrete set of instructions is readily available for whoever must deal with the situation. Steve Olsen described a mutual aide system that could be developed as part of the ERP. The Trustees will review the plan Steve presented to them in writing today and discuss it at the next meeting.
Janice presented information received from the Town of Cortland about their intentions to begin using their new plant and times offered for the Trustees to tour that facility. The Trustees prefer to tour with Mike Zima and will await his return.
Steve Olsen explained the USEPA Pretreatment Audit Inspection that is upcoming September 17-20.
Trustee Collins moved to accept the Stewart Spreading bid for the District’s 3-year Biosolids Management Contract. Theirs was the lower of the two bids received. Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried.
Trustee Collins moved to approve the Catastrophic Loss request from Debbie Long of 812 Haish Boulevard which did meet all the policy requirements. Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried.
Nancy Hedborg of 244 Salem Drive requested Catastrophic Loss relief because of bills incurred when a water-powered sump pump malfunctioned. It has been removed, and the request did meet all policy requirements. Trustee Collins motioned to approve the request. Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried.
Dave & Chris Grant requested relief from sanitary sewer charges on water discharged above ground when a garden hose was left running while they were out of town. Trustee Collins moved to approve contingent upon the address at 702 Normal Road being their primary residence. Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried.
In New Business, the Trustees asked about Cavel’s status. Steve Olsen told them that Cavel is open and being tested weekly. There have been no violations.
Steve Olsen told the Trustees that quotes on the roof of digester A will be higher than originally budgeted because of the need to replace wood as well as the metal roof. He will present them at the next meeting.
He will also report then on the maintenance plan ITT Flygt will be presenting in an attempt to reduce raw pump failures due to water getting into the pump. A second raw pump recently failed and will cost about $16,500.00 to repair.
Steve reports the lab is taking quotes on a replacement still. This was not on the budget for 2007-2008.
Steve will also hope to have quotes next month for the installation of a heating system for the upper floor of the administration building. The heat from the digester that was being used must be applied to biosolids.
The 10th & Locust shared lateral situation was again discussed because of a request by one of the homeowners, Boyce Bessinger. Previous attempts on the part of the District to motivate owners of the three properties to correct the situation have been fruitless because of the refusal of one to participate. After a discussion, the Trustees indicated they would consider paying half of the construction, however they requested more than one bid. The matter will be considered on the September agenda. The owner of 126/128 North 10th Street is anxious to get the work done and will pay for his share. Block grant money will help the owner of 120 North 10th participate. Staff indicated that filing a notice of code violation against 116 North 10th Street might get that owner to participate.
Trustee Collins moved and Trustee Zar seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. Trustee Collins adjourned the meeting.
Dennis J. Collins, President