Meeting Minutes 8-12-2019
MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING
OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES
HOLIDAY SHORES SANITARY DISTRICT
Monday August 12, 2019
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.
Jeff Sedlacek, President called the meeting to order. Trustees, Richard Hayes and Brennan Murphy were present. Also present were Carla Lankster, District Clerk and Ken Dulle of Restoration Resources.
OPEN FORUM
Mark Hartman and Rion Kolosieke of Sumner One out of St. Louis attended the meeting to discuss a phone system for the office. AT&T already switched our phone lines to VOIP (Voice-Over IP), but the actual phones are still very old analog phones that are not working properly with the Internet based phone service. There is a converter box from VOIP to the analog phones which is not working properly. Sumner One would install a new phone system for $22.00 per month, per phone, and they would be our phone service, instead of AT&T, but the internet service would remain with AT&T. However there is a contract for phones until March 2020 with AT&T. Sumner One also provides copiers and IT computer services and support. So they could give a bid on new computers, because we need all four replaced.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of July 8, 2019 regular meeting were submitted for approval. Mr. Hayes made a motion to approve the minutes for the July 8, 2019 regular meeting. Mr. Murphy seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
FINANCIAL
The Summary of Accounts was reviewed for the month of July, 2019. The water tower loan payment was in July and the $32,000.00 payment comes from the Water Tower reserves. No Motion necessary.
DISBURSEMENTS
After reviewing the Accounts Payable disbursements for the month of July, 2019, Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve the July 2019 disbursements. Mr. Hayes seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
The Central Square-USTI e-printing invoice for July 2019 was received and reviewed. The amount was $551.46. Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve the July 2019 e-printing invoices from Central Square-USTI. Mr. Hayes seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”. Mr. Sedlacek signed the invoice.
Restoration Resources submitted Invoice 650, dated August 2, 2019, for water and wastewater operations management for July 2019. Mr. Hayes made a motion to approve Restoration Resources Invoice 650, dated August 2, 2019. Mr. Brennan seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS
The water and sewer applications for July, 2019 were reviewed, and included 9 customer transfers in Holiday Shores and one Sewer Only customer transfer. Mr. Hayes made a motion to approve the July, 2019 applications. Mr. Murphy seconded the motion and all the Trustees voted “Aye”.
OTHER
There were three properties discovered in the past two months, where the water meters were not communicating with the ERT’s (Electronic Radio Transmitters), during drive-by readings. The meters are working, but the customer accounts are not being billed for water use, sometimes for several months. Due to a large number of homes being vacant during long-term vacations, houses for sale or summer homes, it is very difficult to discover the houses that are not being charged water use, but the house is occupied. The customers did use the water and we are able to get a correct manual reading, therefore they are billed for the entire amount of water used. Ms. Lankster wanted to make the Trustees aware of this happening, in case there are any questions from the customers.
As discussed at the July meeting, the account for the property at 2049 Tamarach Drive will be written off to bad debt. The billing will be terminated until the foreclosure is settled, to avoid future write-offs. There is also a property at 1219 Key Largo Terrace that is not being written off at this time, however there is a high balance that may not be collectible. Therefore the billing will also be terminated, but the balance already accumulated will remain until it is sold or put on the market. Liens will also remain on the property, but no new liens will be placed.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
The flooring for the office is still being discussed. New bids will be necessary so they can be compared, using similar materials. Mr. Hayes suggested having The Floor Store in Bethalto recommend the best flooring for commercial property. Then when we request other bids, tell the contractors to give a bid on that flooring or equivalent quality. There is also an option of purchasing the material and having a contractor bid on the labor only.
NEW BUSINESS
A list of all of the water and sewer credits given during the fiscal year 2018/2019 was presented for approval. The leak and summer sewer credits, late charge credits and bad debt write-offs were all included on the list. Mr. Sedlacek signed his approval on the report.
There was a short discussion of rate increases that will be necessary, and will probably be effective January 1, 2020. The last increase on the water and sewer rates was in the summer of 2017. It was discussed to do a three or five year plan, with percentage increases each year. Mr. Dulle mentioned a 10-year plan, but Mr. Murphy said we may not want to lock in the rate increases for that long, because an emergency situation could arise and we may not be able to change the ordinance. Some calculations need to be done to determine how much is needed to meet our budgeted expenses.
OPERATIONS
Mr. Dulle discussed a problem with one of the Memcor units at the water plant. The main influent valve keeps shutting down and we are not sure what is causing it. Also a part has been ordered to replace an actuator. A surge suppressor on the raw water pump went out and a module is on order from Butler Supply.
Water tower #2 had lightning strike it, and the electric is out and has to be repaired.
We received notice from the IEPA that there has been a DBP violation. The high reading was in July, which is the hottest month. Therefore the quarterly average was 81 parts per billion, and it should be 80 parts per billion. So a notification will have to go out to all customers, and it will probably be published in the Holiday Times.
There is one final office note. A part-time office employee will need to be hired to replace Marian Wilkinson. She is planning to move out of state as soon as their house sells. Therefore we will have two part-time employees, until that time and Ms. Wilkinson can help train the new employee. An ad will be placed in the Holiday Times and possibly another local paper. There is also a consideration of using the employment agency that was used earlier this year for a temporary employee.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr. Hayes made a motion to adjourn the regular meeting. Mr. Murphy seconded the motion, and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
Respectfully submitted, Carla Lankster, District Clerk