DeKalb Sanitary District Board Meeting Minutes
Meetings are held at 303 Hollister Avenue in DeKalb.
DeKalb Sanitary District
June 16, 2010
Minutes
Approved July 21, 2010
The June meeting of the DeKalb Sanitary District Board of Trustees was held at the office of the District at noon on Wednesday, June 16, 2010. In attendance were Trustees Dennis Collins, Tim Struthers and Carol Zar. Mark Eddington, P.E., 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 Wayne Fesler attended, as did Scott Trotter, P.E. and Mike Holland, P.E. of Trotter & Associates. Jaime Smirz of the City of DeKalb Community Development Department attended. Paul Borek of DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation, Jennifer Diedrich, Special Projects Coordinator City of DeKalb, and Jason Fowler of Sheaffer & Roland representing Shodeen Development attended portions of the meeting.
President of the Board Collins called the meeting to order.
Trustee Zar moved to approve the June agenda. Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried.
Trustee Collins moved to approve the May minutes. Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried.
Janice Tripp, Assistant Manager Administration explained the transfers and Trustee Collins moved to approve the transfer of: $310,000.00 from the Revenue Fund to the O & M Fund; $10,791.20 from the Dedicated Tax IMRF Fund to the O & M Fund; $6,316.49 from the Dedicated Tax FICA Fund to the O & M Fund; $52,978.34 from the Revolving Loan Biosolids & CC to the Revenue Fund; Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried.
Trustee Struthers moved to pay bills as presented. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried.
Trustee Zar moved and Trustee Struthers seconded a donation of $1,000 to be taken from the Public Benefit Fund and transferred to the O & M fund for donation to the DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation. Trustee Collins noted he and Trustee Struthers are members of that organization. Motion carried.
Treasurer Fesler gave his report and discussed investments and interest rates. He deferred discussion of a compensation adjustment until the April 2011 meeting.
Action on agenda items 7 and 9 was delayed until 1 pm, the time of the public hearing.
After discussion with Jennifer Diedrich, Special Projects Coordinator City of DeKalb, about the intergovernmental agreement for tax abatement to businesses bringing employment to DeKalb, Trustee Collins moved to approve a resolution for a Tax Abatement for Project Grayhawk, as presented to them by the City of DeKalb, subject to review of the actual documents. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried.
Trustee Collins moved and Trustee Struthers seconded Ordinance #531 directing the District’s compliance with Illinois Department of Labor prevailing wage rates. Motion carried.
There were no requests for annexation or pre-annexation this month.
Scott Trotter deferred the Engineer's report to discussion of the individual agenda items.
Jason Fowler discussed and presented plans for the proposed Shodeen Irongate development east of Annie Glidden between Dresser and Bethany. Sanitary sewer service is available, but the properties would need to annex to the DeKalb Sanitary District before they could be served. The Board reviewed the configuration of sewers in the area. Fowler also briefly updated the Board on the status of the Shodeen DeKalb Commons and Pearl Street developments.
The public hearing on the District proposed 2010-2011 Fiscal Year Budget was held at 1 p.m. Trustee declared the public hearing open and asked for public input on the proposed appropriation ordinance. There was no public input. Trustee Collins moved to close. Trustee Struthers seconded. Motion carried. Trustee Collins closed the hearing.
Trustee Collins moved and Trustee Struthers seconded approval of Ordinance #530, "AN ORDINANCE MAKING APPROPRIATION FOR CORPORATE PURPOSES OF THE DEKALB SANITARY DISTRICT FOR THE FISCAL YEAR OF SAID DISTRICT, FROM MAY 1, 2010 TO APRIL 30, 2011 INCLUSIVE." Motion carried.
In Plan Review, Mark Eddington reported on the Project Spring. The engineers for that project will be supplying calculations on the strength of their proposed effluent to the District for review by Trotter & Associates. They have submitted their initial Project Review Fees of $1,000 to fund this process.
Scott Trotter reported on the progress of the Biosolids Rehabilitation and Improvements Project. Trustee Collins moved to approve Pay Request #6 for $711,381.42 subject to the receipt of Loan Disbursement #7. Trustee Collins seconded. Motion carried. Road access, construction dust, and odor abatement issues were also discussed. Mark Eddington affirmed District operators for their adjustment to the reduced digester capacity. Despite challenging conditions, the plant has had no effluent violations.
Additional dewatering measures at the Country Club Lift Station Project due to unforeseen soil and groundwater conditions have gone beyond the previous estimates. Trotter & Associates is reviewing Williams Brothers costs and a change order will be brought to the Board at a later time. Mike Holland, P.E. said that the DeKalb Park District has had no complaints about the impact of construction on them and Trustee Collins affirmed Mike's efforts to achieve that. Trustee Collins moved to approve Pay Request #3 for $120,319.24 subject to the receipt of Loan Disbursement #7. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried.
Sewer work will be starting soon on the Moraine Terrace Sanitary Sewer Improvements Project. DuPage Topsoil has completed tree removal. They estimate completion in about two weeks.
Except for one repair that is awaiting coordination with the Illinois Department of Transportation, Elliot & Wood has completed work on the 2010 Spot Repairs Project. The Board asked Mark Eddington to advise the City of DeKalb of additional cost to be expected due to an emergency repair to an unmarked City water line at a spot repair excavation site. City staff was involved in the on-site decision making at the time.
Michels Pipe Services will start work on the 2010 Lining Project next week. The Board asked Steve Olsen to prepare a public announcement about the impact of the lining on residents.
Mark Eddington has asked the City of DeKalb to provide a line item accounting of the $235,000.00 cost of sending out four bills to each of 10,800 accounts which the City has proposed to charge the District for including sewer charges on water bills in the coming year.
Scott Trotter recommended to the Board that they raise connection fees to a level that would pay for the replacement of the plant treatment capacity taken with each new service account. He estimates this cost to be $900 per P.E. which would make the connection fees for a single family home $3,150.00. A review of the connection fees of neighboring municipalities showed this amount to be less than some of them are currently charging. However, the Board instructed Keith Foster to prepare an ordinance for consideration at the July meeting that would place the connection fee at $375 per P.E., an amount based on a recommendation made by Mark Eddington which applied the C.C. I. to the current $215 per P.E. connection fee. If the ordinance was approved, the increase would become effective in September.
Mark reported on a meeting with McMahon Associates to review their work on the District's new User Ordinance. Finalization of this ordinance must await the USEPA's review of the Pretreatment Ordinance which will be a separate ordinance not included in the User Ordinance. Mark spoke with the USEPA reviewer and was promised a response by this fall.
Mark Eddington that he has appointed himself, Janice Tripp, Assistant Manger Administration, and Betty Jones, Secretary to be Freedom of Information Act Officers for Fiscal Year 2010 to 2011.
Mark Eddington and Scott Trotter will be working together to develop a plaque dedicating the biosolids facility to Mike Zima, the former District Manager for his 37 years of service to the District.
Mark Eddington declined to have a coffee given in his honor. He feels his previous involvement with the District and the community have introduced him.
The Board asked Steve Olsen, Plant Foreman to acquire quotes for the replacement of two variable frequency drives that are failing.
Steve Olsen explained the need for liquid biosolids hauling until the District's new dewatering facility has been completed next spring. Trustee Collins moved and Trustee Zar seconded a motion to approve extending the current contract with Stewart Spreading for Biosolids Management for an additional year at the same price. Motion carried.
The Board offered its condolences to the family of Tom Engstrom of Hollister Avenue and regretted the passing of this good neighbor.
The Board considered the request of John Corneille of 220 Thornbrook for a refund of sewer charges on water to refill his pool after last month's storms. Because the amount of water that did not enter the sewer could not be quantified, the Board denied the request. Such refunds will continue to require metering as per the District's existing policy.
The request of Michael Williams of 1509 Stonefield for consideration of $124.80 for sewer charges due to a toilet leaking did meet Catastrophic Loss Relief Policy conditions and was approved in a motion made by Trustee Collins and seconded by Trustee Zar. The motion carried.
In New Business, Steve Olsen said that because the lead time on purchase of dump trucks from the State of Illinois Joint Purchasing Program is three months he would like to place an order for the dump truck to haul dewatered biosolids now. The Board agreed and asked him to report next month.
Mark Eddington told the Board that USEPA proposed rule changes in regard to the management of collections systems would negatively impact the District by disallowing Excess Flow treatment during excessive rain events. He is participating in an Illinois Association of Wastewater Agencies effort to oppose this. He would like Scott Trotter to update the Board on other pending regulatory changes and how they would impact the District. The Board agreed to have this as an agenda item next month.
Trustee Collins moved to go into Executive Session to address personnel issues and discuss land acquisition. Trustee Struthers seconded, and the motion carried. The Board went into Executive Session.
After the Board returned from Executive Session, Trustee Collins moved to adjourn the meeting. Trustee Zar seconded. Motion carried.
Trustee Collins adjourned the meeting.
Dennis J. Collins, President