Meeting Minutes 2-12-2024
MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES
HOLIDAY SHORES SANITARY DISTRICT
Monday, February 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 meeting.
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 were also present. Four residents were in attendance: Mark Mayes for lot 332, Dewey Barnes of lot 1772, Lewis Hebenstreit of lot 484 and Kathleen Schillinger of lot 1686.
OPEN FORUM
Mr. Mark Mayes is the owner of 332 High Point Drive. His tenant had a high bill, about double normal use, for the month of November, and Mr. Mayes started checking around the house. He discovered water coming up in the driveway, near the house, where a copper line failed. After his tenant called him about her high bill, he immediately called HSSD to check the reading and shut off the water on January 19, so a repair could be completed, and 80,880 gallons had gone through the meter. The repair was completed and Mr. Mayes submitted a letter and attended the meeting to request some credit consideration. The Trustees said to give Sewer credit for 79,000 gallons, since the tenant only uses an average of approximately 1,600 gallons per month. They also decided to give a partial Water credit of 25%, because of the excessive amount of water used. This will be decided on a case-by-case basis.
Mr. Dewey Barnes of 1772 Captains Drive also had a water line leak between the meter and his house, that he had to get repaired, which cost over $4,000.00. He used over 8,000 gallons in December and had a high reading that was more than double his normal use for water used in November. The meter was showing about 10 gallons per hour going through, with his inside valve turned off. The Trustees gave Mr. Barnes a similar consideration of a Sewer credit for water used over his average, and a partial water credit.
There was only one resident, Ms. Cathy Schillinger of 1686, in attendance requesting information about the Water and Sewer Rate increases effective on the January 31, 2024 bills, due on February 25, 2024. She expected more residents to be in attendance. Mr. Hayes stated that expenses have been increasing for everything, our rates had to increase. Mr. Hebenstreit explained that this rate increase was calculated during a very detailed Budget analysis. The expenses have increased beyond previous rate increases, and it was necessary to make these increases to balance the budget, it was not tied to any big project. The sewer rate went up more than the water rate, because the related expenses for grinder pumps and the concrete tanks have increased beyond the previous sewer rate increases.
A civil engineering company contacted HSSD regarding a project at the Southwest corner of Moro Road and Saint James Drive. Ms. Lankster directed them to Fosterburg Water for the water service, because the property is within their water district boundary lines. HSSD has sewer lines in that area, however the parcel is not included within our District boundary lines. This information is included only to inform the Trustees of the phone call.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of January 8, 2024 regular meeting were submitted for approval, with the Manager’s Report for Operations attached. Mr. Hebenstreit made a motion to approve the minutes for the January 8, 2024 meeting. Mr. Murphy 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 January 31, 2024. No Motion necessary. The summary includes the 1/31/2024 bank statement balances, however the portion that splits out the available reserve balances was not complete, and Ms. Lankster will send it to the Trustees when completed. Mr. Hebenstreit asked about format that matches to the approved budget that was discussed at the January meeting. He requested that financial information be provided to the board for comparison to the approved budget. Mr. Clarkson indicated that he has been working on a format, however it is not complete at this time. Mr. Hebenstreit stated that we should use as much from the reserves as we can, to build up the operating accounts to be within a 4-6 month available cash balance to match the budget.
DISBURSEMENTS
The January 2024 Accounts Payable disbursements were reviewed for approval. Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve the January 2024 disbursements. Mr. Hebenstreit seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
Certop, Inc. Invoice #02012024.06, dated 2/1/2024 for $5,435.00 for January 2024 Class A Water Operator services was submitted for payment. Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve Certop Inc., Invoice #02012024.06, for January 2024 services. Mr. Hebenstreit seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
Mr. Hayes signed an invoice from Flo-Systems for Wet-Well and Dry-Well Grinder Pumps in the amount of $70,247.77. These are pumps that were included in the annual budget for both new construction and replacements. Two other invoices were signed from County Materials Corporation, who recently purchased Kienstra Precast. They have increased the prices for concrete tanks that house the grinder pumps. The two invoices were in the amounts of $2,388.45 and $2,458.35.
APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS Water/Sewer applications for January 2024 were reviewed. Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve the January 2024 applications. Mr. Hebenstreit seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
OTHER
The law firm of Unsell, Schattnik & Phillips is legal counsel for Holiday Shores Sanitary District, and they presented a proposal for the first increase in the rate, since Ms. Phillips began to represent the District around March, 2020. The rate for her associates will remain the same, however she is asking for an increase from $150.00 to $175.00 per hour for her services. Mr. Hayes made a motion to accept the proposal from Unsell, Schattnik & Phillps to increase the hourly rate for Ms. Erin Phillips from $150.00 to $175.00. Mr. Murphy seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Mr. Clarkson stated that he has applied for the environmental grant for LED lighting in the garage. Ms. Julie Romano has continued to research Grant Opportunities for Holiday Shores Sanitary District.
However, she was not in attendance for this meeting. Mr. Hebenstreit would like to formally thank Julie Romano for all of the work she has done in researching grants, and pointing out the ones that could be available to the district.
A second proposal was submitted this month for the 4-step fertilizing process on the Office property. Turfology quoted $960.00, or a 5% discount if the season is pre-paid, which would be $912.00. MTM (Midwest Turf Management) quoted 756.00, or a 5% discount if prepaid, which would be $718.20. Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve MTM for the 4-step fertilizing, and prepay for $718.20. Mr. Hebenstreit seconded the motion, and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
An employee will take the test for Class A certification at the IRWA conference on February 22, 2024. Mr. Hebenstreit is requesting Mr. Clarkson and the operations staff to put in the effort to make this the #1 priority to study and pass the test. The time needs to be put in to study. Mr. Clarkson has reached out to a Class A operator to Mr. Hebenstreit is asking Mr. Clarkson to come up with a written plan to the board, to replace Certop as the Class A service, if the HSSD employee does not pass the test this month.
Mr. Clarkson wrote up some guidelines for summer credits and leak credits. These guidelines will be considered when a request for a credit is made by a customer, and will be on a case-by-case basis. The 25% Water credit needs to be added to these guidelines, for large water leaks. All requests must be written in detail, and submitted to the HSSD office by the Thursday prior to the monthly meeting. These are just guidelines to have available when a request is made at the meeting.
Mr. Clarkson presented a list of rates to be written into an ordinance for grinder pump and water repairs. The list includes a labor rate of $80.00 per hour, with a 2-hour minimum. Equipment fees with the operator will be included in the ordinance with 2 or 3 hours minimum. Emergency water shut-offs and shut-offs for extended vacations will also be included in the ordinance to be prepared for the March meeting.
NEW BUSINESS
The Trustees made a decision at the January 8, 2024 meeting to contract for a new cloud-based accounting software, with UPM Software. The contract has been received and was emailed to our attorney Erin Phillips. Mr. Clarkson stated that some questions she had were already answered or were not a major concern. After some discussion, Mr. Hayes agreed to sign it, if Erin Phillips is ok with the contract. Mr. Hebenstreit is requesting that we develop an implementation plan, including equipment that may be necessary, and an office staff member to streamline the process. Ms. Lankster will speak with Daniel Brown to determine the process and what HSSD will be responsible for. Mr. Hebenstreit would like the plan from UPM to be given to the Trustees, when we have it.
There was a discussion at the January meeting, regarding some recent expenses out of the Water Supply Fund account. There were two major Capitalized expenses recently. There was a complete motor rebuild on one of the Raw Water Pumps, and the main Furnace at the Water Plant was replaced. A Resolution No. 20240212WA was presented to transfer $40,000.00 from Water Connection Reserves (WRES), to Water Supply to be approved and signed. All Trustees and the District Clerk signed the Resolution. Mr. Hebenstreit made a motion to approve Resolution No. 20240212WA. Mr. Murphy seconded the motion, and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
Another Resolution was discussed to transfer funds from Sewer Reserves to Sewer Supply. New Grinder pumps were purchased from Flo-Systems, for both new construction and replacement of older pumps that we can no longer get parts for. The amount of the invoice was over $70,000.00. After some discussion between Mr. Clarkson and the Trustees, it was decided that a resolution will be written up for the March meeting, to transfer funds, in the amount of $70,000.00. Mr. Murphy made a motion to write up a resolution to transfer $70,000.00 from Sewer Reserves to replenish Sewer Supply for the purchase of new grinder pumps. Mr. Hebenstreit seconded the motion, and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
The Liability and Workers Compensation insurance renewal will be March 17, 2024. Dimond Bros. Insurance will present quotes from Cincinnati Insurance and one other insurance company for the March meeting.
Mr. Hebenstreit wrote up guidelines for the Finance Committee, but it was not included on the agenda this month, therefore it will be discussed and approved at the March meeting. Mr. Clarkson stated that he spoke with the attorney for the district, Erin Phillips, and she stated that Mr. Hebenstreit, as the Chair of the Committee, should distribute any paperwork to the other members.
OPERATIONS REPORT
Mr. Clarkson presented his Manager’s Report he prepared, for the month of January. The report was discussed and is an attachment to the meeting minutes. However, two decisions are included here in the main meeting minutes.
There is a water service saddle leak on Castle Drive, and the District is not equipped to make the repair to the 8” water line. If it gets worse, it could affect a large number of customers, so action needs to be taken quickly. Three contractors, Kassen, GRP and Korte & Luitjohan, have submitted quotes, which are included in Mr. Clarkson’s Operations Report. Kassen and Korte had similar quotes, however Kassen can have the repair completed in one week. Mr. Hebenstreit made a motion to approve the quote from Kassen, in the amount of $4,250.00 to replace the Saddle only, or an additional $9,375.00, if a portion of the water line must be replaced. Mr. Murphy seconded the motion, and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
There has been some major erosion at the Midway Lift Station, and the entire backside is exposed. L. Yates and Sons will deliver, place and compact Rip Rap and 1” clean rock for a quote of $3,500.00. Mr. Hebenstreit made a motion to approve $3,500.00 quoted by L. Yates and Sons to deliver rock and stop the erosion and site restoration. Mr. Murphy seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
ADJOURN TO EXECUTIVE SESSION
There was no Executive Session at this meeting.
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 January 2024
Water
Water Plant lift station relay has been installed. Temporary jumper removed and lift station is back to normal operation.
We were able to maintain heat inside the water plant using the portable propane heaters and avoided any interruption in producing water.
Subzero- and single-digit temps led to many call outs for frozen water service lines and meters. Water service lines require us to locate and shut off at meter when the customer does not have a means to shut down at their home. This can be due to inoperable valves in the home or the break is between meter and home. Meter freeze ups require us to thaw the meter to restore water service. Hopefully the worst is behind us now.
We have a water service saddle leaking at the end of Castle Dr. This is on a very old Transite line (8”). The district is not equipped to handle this type of repair and we will be calling in a contractor to do the repair. Due to the possibility of freezing temps and number of customers that could be affected if the main were to fail, action needs to be taken quickly to resolve the issue. GRP was called out to quote repair work along with Kassen Excavating and Korte Louitjon. GRP bid the work to replace the Transite line and re-tap services effected. Kassen and Korte have submitted quotes to replace saddle and in worst case scenario replace a section of the line. Korte is 2 weeks out and Kassen can have completed in one week.
Kassen $4250.00 to repair saddle $9375 to replace section of line
GRP $16,833.00
Korte $3500-$4000 $8,000-$10,000
Repairs to Water/Plant Equipment:
Furnace replacement unit delivered and installed 23 Jan 2024
Sewer
Sub zero- and single-digit temps led to many call outs for frozen grinder pumps. The guys did an amazing job keeping up with the calls and kept their safety a priority. Tool box talks included buddy system (whenever it was possible) and warming breaks after 15 min in single digit temps.
Total call outs for month were 31. We changed out 14 grinder pumps in the month. Pump rebuilds continue in house. Some of the pump models are being phased out and parts are becoming difficult to obtain. Going forward we need to plan replacements with the newest pumps available.
We have an erosion issue we are addressing at Midway lift station. The entire back side of the lift station structure is exposed and the gravity lines feeding the station exposed. Contacted Yates to haul in Rip Rap and 1” clean rock to backfill structure to avoid an event or IEPA recordable (SSO) Sanitary Sewer Overflow. $3500.00 for Rip Rap and 1” clean rock delivered placed and compacted. Site restoration included.
No word from EPA on fine or litigations dates for Lagoon.
Unfinished business
Email sent to Angie Webster (HOA Manager) informing her we intend to bill Association for portion of By-Pass on Sept 28th. Invoice sent via USPS 6-December-2023.
Cross connection survey in progress. Electronic and paper copies to be filed and report filed to IEPA for compliance. Currently have received 285 forms back. Will notify customers via advertisement in Holiday Times of the requirement to complete.
Class A testing Re-test will be February 22nd