DeKalb Sanitary District Board Meeting Minutes
DeKalb Sanitary District
October 16, 2007
Minutes
Approved November 20, 2007
The October meeting of the DeKalb Sanitary District Board of Trustees was held at the office of the District at 5 p.m. on October 16, 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. Mark Eddington, P.E. and Mike Holland, E.I.T. of Trotter & Associates attended. Jim Schneider was present.
President of the Board Collins called the meeting to order.
Trustee Collins moved and Trustee Struthers seconded approval of the October agenda. Motion carried.
Trustee Zar moved approval of the September minutes. Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried.
Trustee Collins moved to approve the transfer of : $305,000.00 to the O & M Fund from the Revenue Fund; $9,408.24 to the O & M Fund from the Dedicated Tax FICA Fund and $13,016.05 to the O & M Fund from the Dedicated Tax IMRF Fund. Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried.
Trustee Collins moved to pay bills as presented. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried.
During Public Input Jim Schneider asked questions about plans for the Lions Park Lift Station, especially electrical service separation and received information about that from staff and engineers.
Treasurer Stokke gave the Treasurer’s Report and discussed revolving loan payments and investments.
Mike Zima reported that he has sent the Management Discussion and Analysis to Sikich for review and addressed two errors found in the draft audit. Janice Tripp requested that the Board approve the audit this month even though the Auditor’s Review for the Board cannot be scheduled until next month. Trustee Struthers moved to approve the Audit for the Fiscal Year ending April 30, 2007. Trustee Collins seconded. Motion carried. Trustee Collins requested that a copy of the final management letter be provided to the Trustees prior to the November meeting. The Trustees asked for an earlier deadline for presentation of next year’s audit.
There have been no requests for annexation or pre-annexation this month.
Mike has received no word about projects in development this month.
Mike Zima reported that the City of DeKalb has scheduled a Public Forum on storm water and drainage issues to be held next Thursday. The purpose is to inform the public about what the City and the District have been doing about these problems. Mike Zima, Steve Olsen, and Mark Eddington plan to attend. Mike said he hopes the establishment of a Task Force to address storm water and drainage will follow.
Mark Eddington provided the Engineer’s Report in writing and deferred discussion until the individual agenda items later in the meeting.
Mark Eddington asked the Board’s approval of the Facilities Plan as reviewed at the recent workshop and authorization to submit the plan to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency for review. Submission to the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning is not required for DeKalb County. After commending Trotter & Associates for their work on the Facilities Plan and stating that he thought the development of the plan by TAI and third party review of the F.P.U. by Strand Engineering had been a beneficial process that served the public, Trustee Collins moved to accept the Facilities Plan in its current form and to authorize Trotter & Associates to submit it to the IEPA. Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried.
Having approved the Facilities Plan, the Board moved on to consideration of the funding for increased collection system repairs including a leaking laterals program, needed lift station repairs and inflation. After discussion, Trustee Collins moved to instruct Attorney Keith Foster to prepare an Ordinance which would increase the sewer use rate from $1.60 to $2.00 per 100 cubic foot effective January 1, 2008. Trustee Zar seconded. The motion carried. The Trustees will consider passage of the ordinance at the November meeting. Janice Tripp was asked to prepare a press release announcing the rate increase for Board review.
Mark Eddington said that a Lions Park Lift Station pre-construction meeting was held on September 26th with DeKalb Sanitary District Staff, DeKalb Park District Staff, TAI, and River City Construction in attendance. Security fence has been installed around the construction site and River City is mobilizing for construction. Weekly construction meetings will be held on Wednesday morning. The project’s Final Completion date is July 20, 2008.
Lining on the 2007 Lining Project has been completed, but the project will not be finished until video of the completed lining has been reviewed and the work accepted as satisfactory by Mike Zima, District Manager. Pay Request #3 in the amount of $135,003.50 will be held until that time.
Mike Zima and Steve Olsen will be doing a final review on the revised Standard Detail and Notes.
A meeting between TAI and District staff to discuss Annie Glidden Road Interceptor Routing was held September 27th.
The Board’s concern for the development of quantitative data to measure the improvement per dollar of expense on collection system repairs will be part of the District Infiltration and Inflow Reduction Plan now under development.
Steve Olsen says the Emergency Response Plan is about 80% completed and he will be reviewing it with Mike Zima this month and bringing a draft to the Board for review in November and approval in December.
Mike has not heard from the Town of Cortland about their treatment plant’s status so far. He will be meeting with City of DeKalb airport officials tomorrow to discuss what sewer lines should be abandoned and which are to be kept for airport use. Janice suggested that since most of the airport property has never been annexed by the District those lines might become private and be owned and maintained by the City Airport Authority.
Mike’s letter to Eagle Homes requested finalization of the Heatherstone Lift Station handover and the payment of outstanding invoices under the pump and haul agreement in the amount of $21,195.00 has not received any answer so the Board asked Keith Foster to pursue these issues.
The Board agreed to maintain the 1999 offer to pay 50% of the estimated $30,000.00 cost of replacing the triple shared lateral at Tenth & Locust with a public line with three laterals. Administrative and recording costs will be about $2,500.00. The homeowners will be jointly responsible for the other half. Mike Zima will ask that all three individuals deposit their share with the District before work begins.
Nothing more has been heard from owners of 111 and 113 South Ninth Street in response to the Board’s statement last month that if the District intervenes, both homeowners will be required to install new laterals to the public main.
Steve Olsen updated the Board on the status of the Digester A and office heating system repairs.
After an explanation by Steve and Mike of the role of the Excess Flow Sand Filter system and its need for repairs, Trustee Collins moved and Trustee Struthers seconded authorizing Trotter & Associates to begin Engineering for a Repair Project. Motion carried.
At the April Board Meeting, the Board had changed its meeting time from noon on the third Wednesday to 5 p.m. on the third Tuesday in hopes of better public participation and made a plan to review the effectiveness of the change at the end of six months. After discussion, Trustee Collins moved to return the meeting to noon on the third Wednesday of the month but to schedule special evening meetings when there are topics requiring public forums and Trustee Struthers seconded. Trustee Zar cast an opposing vote, but the motion carried. Meetings will return to the old schedule as of January 1, 2008 after time for public notification.
There were no requests for Catastrophic Water Loss Relief this month.
In New Business, Trustee Collins asked Mike Zima to schedule a meeting between City of DeKalb Mayor Frank Van Buer and City Manager Mark Biernacki, Trustee Collins and Mike to discuss Facilities Plan issues.
Trustee Collins moved and Trustee Zar seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. Trustee Collins adjourned the meeting.
Dennis J. Collins, President