Meeting Minutes 4-8-2024
MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES
HOLIDAY SHORES SANITARY DISTRICT
Monday, April 8, 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.
OPEN FORUM
A reporter from the Edwardsville Intelligencer called the office, requesting information on the Wastewater Lagoon project. He was informed that there was nobody in the office, authorized to answer the questions. He was told that he is welcome to come to this meeting, and he was given the date and time, but he did not attend. He wrote an article, which included the information that was stated in a publication by HMG Engineering, in the Intelligencer, regarding the wastewater project.
There was also a short discussion regarding hiring someone to replace Ms. Lankster, when she retires. The position would start as part-time, but would become a full-time position. Mr. Hebenstreit requested that the Trustees are involved in the process, to ensure that it is included in the budget. An ad was placed in the Holiday Times, and it was discussed to place an ad in the Alton Telegraph and the Intelligencer.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of March 11, 2024 regular meeting were submitted for approval, with the Manager’s Report for Operations attached. Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve the minutes for the March 11, 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 March 31, 2024. As per the resolution No. 20240311SE signed at the March meeting, $70,000 was transferred from Sewer Reserves to Sewer Supply in February. No Motion necessary.
DISBURSEMENTS
The March 2024 Accounts Payable disbursements were reviewed for approval. Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve the March 2024 disbursements. Mr. Hebenstreit seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
Certop, Inc. did not submit an invoice for April 1, 2024 Class A Water Operator services. A Class A certified Water Operator was hired and started March 18, 2024.
Mr. Hayes signed invoices over $500.00. There was an invoice from HMG Engineers, however there is a question on the amount billed. Ms. Lankster sent an email to Sarah, and she said that we should not pay this invoice, at this time. She will be moving part of the amount to be included in the loan, and will re-issue this invoice.
APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS Water/Sewer applications for February 2024 and March 2024 were submitted for approval. There were only 2 transfers in February and there were 8 transfers in March. Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve the February and March 2024 Applications. Mr. Hebenstreit seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
OTHER
Two letters have been submitted for summer sewer credits for 2024 and there have been discussions at several meetings regarding policy changes. The new policy created at the February meeting, states that sewer credits will be given for a one-time pool filling, and the customer must provide start and end dates. Some Instances that will not be eligible for the sewer credits are for Watering grass, washing vehicles, boats and home exteriors. The HSSD staff spends a lot of time managing the sewer credits that can often be very small. Any questions on the new policy should be directed to the Board of Trustees, and customers should attend the meeting to discuss the changes. A new form will be created with name, address and size of pool, with specific dates when the pool was filled. This form must be filled out when requesting a sewer credit, and the customer must attend a meeting for approval. Major Water leaks outside of the house will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis at a meeting.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
There was a short discussion regarding grant opportunities that will continue to be researched. Mr. Hebenstreit is suggesting that Mr. Clarkson review a grant that was awarded to another community for a water plant. He wants to know if there can be a parallel request for a grant and the low-interest loan being pursued from the IEPA.
The two employees who are testing for the Class A Certification have not yet passed the test. There are sections to the test that do not apply to the Holiday Shores water plant, but are included, due to different types of water plants, and the tests are changed up every time. Holiday Shores is a surface water plant, and ground water plants require different filtration methods. There is test specific tutoring available from a professor at SIUE for the sections that are problem areas that do not apply to the Holiday Shores water plant that the employees will take prior to the next test. Mr. Hebenstreit wants a written plan going forward, for passing the test.
Electronic Availability of Ordinances was tabled for this meeting.
NEW BUSINESS
A letter has been received from Holishor Association regarding the invoice that was sent to them for a portion of the cost for the temporary by-pass of the sewer main on Biscay Drive. They are stating that they are not going to pay the invoice, and they were not told that we were going to bill them for the by-pass. However, Angie Webster and Ty Van Ryswyck attended our September 18, 2023 Trustee meeting, and there was a discussion asking Holishor for a portion of the cost. There was also a reminder during the meeting that HSSD paid half of the cost to repair the Morning Glory several years ago. Mr. Clarkson also sent an email to Holishor on September 28, 2023 that the by-pass work was started and HSSD would be sending them a bill for the by-pass work, due to the culvert failure. Mr. Hebenstreit feels that we should invite Holishor to one of our board meetings to discuss the invoice. If they do not come to our meeting, we will consider attending a Holishor meeting. We did the by-pass to help them out and we made it clear that we did not think we should pay the entire amount. Mr. Clarkson will send Holishor Association a letter to invite them to attend the next regular Board of Trustees meeting to discuss this in more detail
Amendment K to Ordinance 2006-04 was submitted for approval. This amendment was due to an increase in the cost of concrete tanks for the grinder pumps, for new construction or a new tap-on. There has also been an increase in the number of bores needed to access the main lines across roads. This amendment increases sewer connection fees for each size of the concrete tank. It also adds a $700.00 fee if a bore is needed to access the main line across the road. Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve Amendment K to Ordinance 2006-04. Mr. Hebenstreit seconded the motion, and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
OPERATIONS REPORT
Mr. Clarkson presented his Manager’s Report he prepared, for the month of March. The report was discussed and is an attachment to the meeting minutes. There are almost 900 homes that have not responded to the Cross Connection survey. If we do not receive these surveys, our operations staff will have to make appointments with these homeowners to enter their homes to look at the shut-off valves and determine the material of the service line entering the homes. This will be very time consuming and costly. This is an IEPA mandated requirement.
ADJOURN TO EXECUTIVE SESSION
There was no Executive Session necessary 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 March 2024
Water
Club house meter needs to be changed as it isn’t registering accurately, very low water usage. New meter has been ordered ETA is 3 weeks. We will install ASAP.
Cross connection survey reminders sent out on current bill. It is becoming apparent that we will need to allocate labor to inspect homes in order to comply with EPA regulations.
Repairs to Water/Plant Equipment:
Sewer
Total call outs for month were 20. We changed out 13 grinder pumps in the month. Pump rebuilds continue in house.
New control panels wired and installed in pump repair room. These will help us with diagnostics on pumps we bring in from field. The industry is going to these new panels which will benefit us long term with diagnostics in the field and protection form Brown-outs. New services will have these panels and old panels will be replaced as issues arise.
No word from EPA on fine or litigations dates for Lagoon, but we have had correspondence through Sarah regarding Public notice, and Loan application. Notice was published in Paper announcing our plan to improve Lagoon and no responses received from public in the 10-day window. Loan paperwork signed by Rich and submitted to be reviewed by IEPA and await award of funding with terms.
Unfinished business
Email sent to Angie Webster (HOA Manager) informing her we intend to bill Association for portion of By-Pass on Sept 28th. Letter received in HSSD office Thursday March 28th
Cross connection survey in progress. Electronic and paper copies to be filed and report filed to IEPA for compliance. Currently have received 324 forms back leaving roughly 900 +- homes to inspect.
Class A testing Chris took test still waiting on results. Website says In Progress.