Meeting Minutes 11/12/2024
MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING
OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES
HOLIDAY SHORES SANITARY DISTRICT
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
The Board of Trustees of the Holiday Shores Sanitary District met on the above date in regular session pursuant to laws and rules of said Board of Trustees and in accordance with the terms of the notice of regular meetings.
Richard Hayes, President and Trustee called the meeting to order. Trustees Brennan Murphy and Jeff Hebenstreit were present. Carla Lankster, District Clerk, and Rob Clarkson, General Manager, and Rick Skiff, District Clerk in training were also present. Attorney, Erin Phillips was in attendance. Auditors, Jessica Smith and Robin, of Scheffel Boyle, were also in attendance.
OPEN FORUM
Ms. Lankster submitted three single-fill pool, sewer credits requests, for approval. After review, Mr. Hebenstreit made a motion to approve the three single-fill pool, sewer credit requests. Mr. Murphy seconded the motion, and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
A list of other Sewer credit requests was submitted to the District office, and the list was submitted to the Trustees for review. Mr. Hebenstreit stated that we are still making changes to the new policy, and these credit requests should be approved, as they have been at recent meetings. A resolution will be written up for the December meeting, with the new policy attached, and will be effective January 1, 2025. Mr. Hebenstreit made a motion to approve the list of the credits. Mr. Murphy seconded the motion, and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
Jessica Smith and Robin Klingler of Scheffel Boyle presented the Audit Report for the Fiscal Year 2023-2024, ending June 30, 2024. In the opinion of Scheffel Boyle, the report is presented fairly and is a clean report. Ms. Smith went through the report, explaining the statements for General Fund and the Water and Sewer Proprietary Funds. Some changes were made throughout the year, and are being shown differently on the report, than in previous years. All earned interest is now being transferred into the General Fund. There are also monthly transfers from the water and sewer funds to the General Fund, to cover overhead expenses. These are shown as due to and due from on the report. The lagoon project is mentioned in the report, and Mr. Hebenstreit asked about using sewer reserves for the loan payments, once it is in place. Robin Klingler answered that the reserves have been accumulated for the overall sewer system, so the reserves can be used for the sewer loan payments. She stated that it is a good audit report, and that Ms. Lankster does a good job with the records, and the office staff provided all information when requested, that was necessary to complete the annual audit report.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of the October 14, 2024 regular meeting were submitted for approval, with the September Manager’s Report for Operations attached. Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve the minutes for the October 14, 2024 meeting. Mr. Hebenstreit seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
FINANCIAL
The Summary of Accounts and Statement of Revenues and Expenses were reviewed for the month-end balances on October 31, 2024. There was a short discussion regarding the movement of excess water tower reserves to water plant debt service, once the water tower loan is paid off. No Motion necessary.
DISBURSEMENTS
The October, 2024 Accounts Payable disbursements were reviewed for approval. Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve the October 2024 disbursements. Mr. Hebenstreit seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
Unsell, Schattnik and Phillips submitted an invoice for legal fees from October 4, 2024 through November 8, 2024. Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve the invoice for legal fees. Mr. Hebenstreit seconded the motion, and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
There was one invoice submitted for Mr. Hayes to sign. The invoice was from Certop Inc. for the first monthly service for Wastewater Class 1 Operator, for the month of November 2024. The invoice is in the amount of $425.00, as per the contract.
APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS Water/Sewer applications for October 2024, including three new service connections, was submitted for approval. Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve the applications for October 2024. Mr. Hebenstreit seconded the motion, and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
OTHER
The water and sewer Pool/Leak credit policy has been updated. A few changes were made after a discussion at the October 14, 2024 meeting. Ms. Lankster and Ms. Erin Phillips discussed having a Resolution written up for the December meeting, with the new policy attached. Ms. Phillips stated that the Resolution should state that the policy has been updated and will be effective 1/1/2025, and would include any requests submitted after 1/1/2025. The resolution should include a statement that it benefits the community as a whole. It should be posted on the website and on the door.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
A question had been carried over from the June 2024 meeting, regarding public notification of the CCR paperwork violation. This question was addressed and answered at the September and October meetings, and will now be removed from the Agenda.
A question was presented by a community member regarding the Risk and Resilience Assessment and the Emergency Response Plan. The question was if the RRA should be certified by an official of the District, since it includes cyber security and financial infrastructure? Mr. Clarkson stated “I investigated the certification of the RRA specifically who can certify it. My findings were that any employee can do so. The circumstances surrounding our last certification made sense as the senior management position was vacant at the time. Moving forward when recertification comes in 2026, we will have this accomplished by the General Manager. I would like to thank Julie for bringing it to our attention”.
Mr. Hebenstreit stated that the grant information should be removed from the monthly meeting agenda, but should remain on the Action Items list.
During the discussion of the Action Items list, Mr. Joe Urban is now listed on the IEPA website as a Class A Operator for Holiday Shores Sanitary District. He is also being shown as the Responsible Operator in Charge. Items 1 and 2 can be removed from the list. Item 4 regarding reviews will be discussed in executive session and will be completed and can be removed. Continuing the discussion of the Action Items list. Action item #3 is regarding grant opportunities, will remain on the list, and updated monthly, as a document written up showing the grants that have been applied for and the results, in a one-page document. Number 5 regarding the pool and water and sewer credit policy should be changed to say the final version will be approved at the December meeting, in the form of a Resolution. Item 6 regarding the RRA can be removed. Item 7 should be changed to explore ideas of getting all ordinances into electronic format, so they can all be backed up. Item 8 regarding PFAS, should remain on the list. The three AWWA conference items should be changed, but remain on the list.
Three bids were presented for repairs to the Moro Road lift station. The first bid is from Kane Mechanical in the amount of $11,624.76. Due to a lot of unknowns, this bid is the highest. The second bid is from Concept Plumbing, in the amount of $7,800.00. The third bid is from Loellke Plumbing, in the amount of $5,764.00. Loellke is the lowest bid, and Mr. Clarkson recommends them, because they are well known, and they do good quality work. Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve the bid from Loellke Plumbing, in the amount of $5,764.00. Mr. Hebenstreit seconded the motion, and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
NEW BUSINESS
Resolution No. 20241112WT, to approve the payoff of the IEPA Water Tower loan by electronic funds transfer, was presented for review and approval. Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve Resolution No. 20241112WT. Mr. Hebenstreit seconded the motion, and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
Resolution No. 20241112WA, to Transfer District Debt Service Reserve Funds, to pay off the IEPA Water Tower Loan, was presented for review and approval. Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve Resolution No. 20241112WA. Mr. Hebenstreit seconded the motion, and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
Amendment K to Ordinance 2006-02 was presented for review and approval. The Amendment is a revision to the Water Service rates. The Debt Service Fee, shown as WT, will be removed and added to WPDS, after the Water Tower loan is paid off. The amount of $6.19 will be added to the Water Plant Debt Service fee, shown as WPDS. The new amount will be $18.19, effective for the bills due December 25, 2024. Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve Amendment K to Ordinance 2006-02. Mr. Hebenstreit seconded the motion, and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
A renewal of the Pace Analytical drinking water program for January 1, 2025 – December 31, 2025 was presented for review and approval. The program includes required IEPA Water lab testing and Guard Dog project management. Mr. Hebenstreit asked if there are other options, and Mr. Clarkson and Ms. Lankster said there is a program offered through the IEPA, but they do not provide the Guard Dog project management, and have drop off sites that are out of the area. Teklab would be another option, but there are some tests that they don’t do. Teklab is cheaper for the PFAS, and we use them for Sewer lab testing. Mr. Hebenstreit said we should check into other options for next year. Mr. Hebenstreit made a motion to approve the Pace Analytical Drinking water program for 2025. Mr. Murphy seconded the motion, and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
OPERATIONS REPORT
Mr. Clarkson presented the Operations reports for October 2024, and it is attached to these meeting minutes. Mr. Clarkson also presented information from Sarah Tebbe of HMG Engineers, regarding permit approval from the IEPA and going out for bids for the Lagoon. We are also waiting for the final approval for the IEPA loan. The operations report also includes information regarding grants.
ADJOURN TO EXECUTIVE SESSION
Adjourn to executive session, pursuant to Statute 5ILCS 120/2 (C)(1), to discuss employee personnel issues, and pursuant to Statute 5ILCS 120/2 (C)(11), to discuss possible litigation. Mr. Murphy made a motion to adjourn to Executive session. Mr. Hebenstreit seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
BACK IN REGULAR MEETING FROM THE EXECUTIVE SESSION
There was nothing discussed in executive session to be recorded in regular session.
ADJOURNMENT OF REGULAR MEETING
Mr. Murphy made a motion to adjourn the regular meeting. Mr. Hebenstreit seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
Respectfully submitted, Carla Lankster, District Clerk
Operations Report October 2024
Water
Joe is listed as only water operator on IEPA site and as our RONIC
New service connections
BACT/TOC sampling completed with passing results
Repairs to Water/Plant Equipment:
Static Mixer on order. Bid for installation in process
Post chlorine actuator valve failed. By-pass installed in house temporarily and new valve ordered/installed. Pre Chlorine pump showing signs of wear. Need to purchase pump to have on shelf for when it does fail. Exact replacement lead time 1 week and $2731.24. We have a post pump on shelf for when that pump fails.
Sewer
Total call outs for month were 19. We changed out 12 grinder pumps in the month. Pump rebuilds are being conducted in house and externally to avoid getting behind.
We replaced 3 valves inside tanks.
Lift station at 159 and Moro Rd has piping deterioration causing extended run times of pumps. Bids included in packets to repair.
Lift station at Deerfield Subdivision entrance has deteriorated electrical post. Work to repair is underway.
We are waiting on Electrical design and the land application permit for Lagoon project. We will have bid packets once these are completed.
No word from EPA on fine or litigations dates for Lagoon.
Unfinished business
Cross connection survey on file at office
Service line material survey Submitted.
Sub surface instruments bid of $7995.00 for locating equipment approved order has been placed.
RRA Question: I investigated the certification of the RRA specifically who can certify it. My findings were that any employee can do so. The circumstances surrounding our last certification make sense as the senior management position was vacant at the time. Moving forward when recertification comes in 2026 we will have this accomplished by the General Manager. Thank you for bringing this concern to our attention Julie
Grants
We applied and received a grant from Madison County (Environmental Grant 2024). This grant was utilized to replace outdated lighting in our garage area located at main office. The grant amount was $3880.00. Work was completed and funds awarded.
Further discussion with HMG Engineering about Grant opportunities. See attached Email
I was informed also that the cleaning of the lagoon is a maintenance item and generally would not be financed by the state. In our circumstance however it is being wrapped into the project to bring us into compliance.
It is important to note that we have to have a plan for any money before applying for a grant. For instance, if we were to upgrade our water mains to have fire services we would have to have an engineered plan, an estimated cost, and timeframe as to when the work would be completed.