DeKalb Sanitary District Board Meeting Minutes
Meetings are held at 303 Hollister Avenue in DeKalb.
DeKalb Sanitary District
June 17, 2009
Minutes
Approved July 15, 2009
The June meeting of the DeKalb Sanitary District Board of Trustees was held at the office of the District at noon on Wednesday, June 17, 2009. In attendance were Trustees Dennis Collins, Tim Struthers and Carol Zar. Michael Zima, District Manager; Janice Tripp, Assistant Manager Administration; Steve Olsen, Plant Foreman; and Betty Jones, Secretary were present. Attorney for the District Keith Foster and District Treasurer Richard Stokke attended, as did Scott Trotter, P.E. and Mike Holland, P.E. of Trotter & Associates. Wayne Fesler was present, as was Jim Schneider. Tom Engstrom of 204 Hollister attended for a portion of the meeting.
President of the Board Collins called the meeting to order.
Trustee Struthers moved for approval of the June agenda with the change that items 16 through 19 be moved forward in the agenda. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried.
Trustee Collins moved and Trustee Zar seconded approval of the May minutes. Motion carried.
Trustee Struthers moved for approval to transfer $ 330,000.00 from the Revenue Fund to the O & M Fund. Trustee Collins seconded. Motion carried.
Trustee Collins moved and Trustee Struthers seconded approval to pay bills as presented. Motion carried.
During Public Input and Communications, Tom Engstrom thanked the District for efforts to inform and involve neighbors about biosolids transport, construction plans, etc., but expressed concern about having heard that some residences on Hollister might be displaced by the District's growth. He was assured that the District had no plans to use public domain to acquire any additional land and that the District had taken no action towards acquiring any residences beyond having expressed a desire that homeowners near the District inform the District if they are ever interested in selling their properties. Mr. Engstrom said he had been aware of that, and that it did not concern him.
Also during Public Input and Communications, Trustee Collins welcomed Wayne Fesler to the District on behalf of the Board.
During the Treasurer's Report, Treasurer Stokke discussed investments and received Board feedback on length of terms for investments.
Trustee Collins moved to appoint Wayne Fesler as Treasurer for Fiscal Year 2009-2010 effective June 1, 2009 with Wayne Fesler and Richard Stokke to serve concurrently until July 31, 2009, which will be the date of Treasurer Stokke's retirement from the District. Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried. Trustee Collins moved to add Wayne F. Fesler to the list of authorized signers of District checks during the Fiscal Year from May 1, 2009 through April 30, 2010, and to have Richard Stokke remain on the list of authorized signers as well until the end of July, and then remove his name from the District's accounts. Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried.
Trustee Collins moved to adopt Ordinance # 524 Flat rate user fee reduction. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried.
Trustee Collins moved and Trustee Zar seconded Ordinance No. 525 directing the District’s compliance with Illinois Department of Labor prevailing wage rates. Motion carried.
Mike Zima and Keith Foster reported on a meeting with the Attorney and Engineer for the Town of Cortland. Keith Foster has drafted a 5-year agreement which overrides any previous agreement, and which provides for the intermittent use of the 15-inch sewer across the airport by the Town of Cortland during defined emergency situations and within stated capacity limits at the same user rate as that paid by DeKalb users and a fee in lieu of taxes equivalent to that paid by DeKalb users. This agreement has been sent to the Town of Cortland, but they have not yet responded. Trustee Collins clarified that nothing in the agreement would be expected to limit the District's use of its own infrastructure or create an adverse situation for the District's users.
There were no requests for annexation or pre-annexation .
Scott Trotter submitted the Engineer's Report in writing and deferred discussion until the individual agenda items.
In Plan Review, Mike Zima discussed his review of the Northern Illinois University East Chiller Plant's contribution to the flow in the 8-inch Garden Street sewer. He has determined that the daily peak discharge volume, at full build out will be 10,500 gallons per day, which would call for a connection fee of $22,575.00. He informed the Board that NIU has requested that this fee be deducted from secondary meter refund fees otherwise paid by the District to the University. Trustee Collins moved to allow this. Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried.
Janice Tripp, Assistant Manager Administration reported that the 2008-2009 Audit will be completed in September. Trustee Struthers expressed concern that barring exceptional circumstances, the District's policy should be to complete the audit within three months of the fiscal year end. Janice and Treasurer Stokke explained the circumstances that made it impossible to do so this year.
Steve Olsen reported on the three bids received on June 12 for a four-inch and a six-inch centrifugal pump to replace our 1967 vintage 4 and 6-inch versions. Trustee Collins moved and Trustee Zar seconded authorizing the purchase of the pumps in the amount of $41,634.00 from the low bidder, Godwin Pumps. Motion carried.
Janice explained the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Employer's Contribution rate increase and made estimates of the District's obligation for the coming year. She said that the amount she had budgeted is adequate. Trustee Zar moved and Trustee Struthers seconded raising the District's Contribution to 13.79% to meet its obligation for calendar year 2010. Motion carried.
Scott Trotter said that the USEPA is still refining rules related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and Trotter & Associates remains in communication with them about that.
Scott anticipates receiving a IEPA Construction Permit and letter of commitment on the Biosolids Rehabilitation and Improvements Project around June 15th. The project was advertised for bid Friday June 12th.
The Country Club Lift Station Project has been permitted by the Illinois EPA and approved by the City of DeKalb Engineering Department. The IEPA Loan Commitment letter has not yet been received.
While the Biosolids Rehabilitation and Improvements Project and the Country Club Lift Station Project are being treated as two separate projects by the District for purposes of completion, they are one project for purposes of the IEPA Loan Application. Scott explained that the bids for both projects would have to be received contingent upon receipt of IEPA loans, and he explained the loan commitment procedures. Trustee Collins moved that the District itself fund any amount necessary to complete the projects over the $20 million loan it has applied for. Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried.
Mike Holland said that a pre-construction meeting still needs to be held before Elliott & Wood begins work on the West Lincoln Highway Sewer Replacement Project.
Elliott & Wood has completed about half of the repairs in the 2009 Spot Repair Project, and work continues. Trustee Collins expressed concern about how to avoid the need for these kinds of repairs, especially in regard to requiring stringent quality assurance when new residential developments are being built. He asked that Mike and Steve provide the Board with a summary of what QA activities are done, by whom and how they are paid for and their performance monitored at next month's meeting.
The Notice to Proceed with the 2009 Lining Project was issued to Visu-Sewer, Inc. at the May 20th Board Meeting, a preconstruction meeting was held with them on May 27, and they have started work .
Bids for the 2009 Sewer Grouting Project were opened on June 2 and Notice of Award was executed on June 5 to the lower of the two bidders, Visu-Sewer, Inc. Trustee Collins moved to Issue the Notice to Proceed contingent on bonds and insurance approval by Janice Tripp, Assistant Manager Administration. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried.
Steve Olsen has received some of the equipment for the Permanent Flow Monitoring Project and it is being installed. Training is to follow. Trustee Struthers expressed an interest in receiving flow monitoring data as soon as possible.
There is nothing new on the Infiltration and Inflow Reduction Plan (Private Lateral Program.)
Mike Zima sent a letter requesting the owners of residences on Moraine Terrace to complete and return a survey giving their opinion on tree removal. While they understand the City of DeKalb has requested that the trees be removed only with the approval of 75% of the residents on Moraine Terrace, the Trustees expressed their desire to move forward to do the responsible thing to prevent sewer backups caused by the root infiltration. Mike Zima reiterated that the trees are illegal under the City of DeKalb's own code. While the Board will wait for a response to Mike's letter, they asked that District staff contact any non-respondents by telephone and get an answer from each by the next meeting of the Board.
Trustee Collins moved to approved the Catastrophic Water Loss Relief Requests of: Glen Dew of 320 North 9th Street; Bill McNew of 120 John Street; Howard Newquist of 128 Manor Drive and Bruce Leonard of 1130 Stafford. All of these requests did meet the current City of DeKalb Catastrophic Loss Policy requirements. Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried.
Bruce Leonard of 132 Elm Street requested relief for high charges due to a leak in water line outside of house. (This is not a catastrophic loss relief request, as the water did not enter the sanitary sewer but was lost into the ground). Trustee Collins made the motion to approve. Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried.
Trustees Collins and Struthers expressed concern about the increased number and amount of claims being made and about the new City of DeKalb policy that allows commercial properties to claim refunds. While the District has always agreed to go along with the City of DeKalb's Catastrophic Loss Policy in the past, they want to review that policy and reconsider their decision at the next meeting.
In New Business, Trustee Zar gave the other Trustees the Assistant Manager Administration job description she and Janice Tripp developed. She said advertisements using this description should be placed at once due to Janice's planned retirement. She gave suggestions about places where the job could be posted. The Board wants to discuss the District's administrative succession at next month's meeting, and will hold an Executive Session at the end of the meeting to address personnel issues.
The Board instructed Administrative staff to plan an open house for the purpose of honoring Treasurer Stokke upon his retirement and welcoming Treasurer Fesler.
Trustee Struthers moved to adjourn the meeting. Trustee Collins seconded. Motion carried.
Trustee Collins adjourned the meeting.
Dennis J. Collins, President