Meeting Minutes 9-9-2024
MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES
HOLIDAY SHORES SANITARY DISTRICT
Monday, September 9, 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 was present. Trustee Jeff Hebenstreit was not able to attend. Carla Lankster, District Clerk, and Rob Clarkson, General Manager, and Joe Urban, Water Operator were also present. Attorney, Erin Phillips was in attendance. There were also members of the Holiday Shores community present for a discussion in Open Forum.
OPEN FORUM
Levi Halford of lot 455 brought in a new request for a sewer credit on a water line leak. It started in May when they were on vacation, and it was not discovered and repaired until 7/2/2024. The office will do the calculation and vote on the approval at the next meeting, on October 14, 2024. He does not have to attend again. We will let him know the amount.
Mr. Clarkson of lot 603 submitted a credit request for the month of August. They had a service line break in the yard of over 79,000 gallons. The request is for the amount that did not go through the sewer in the amount of $547.20, and 25% of the water used in the amount of $161.16. Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve the sewer and water credits for a water line leak in the amount of 71,623 gallons. Mr. Hayes seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
Mr. & Mrs. Liley of lot 337 submitted a one-time pool credit request for the months of July and August. The filling was spread over two billing periods. The total number of gallons was 19,990, for a total sewer credit of $152.77. Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve the pool sewer credit in the amount of $152.77. Mr. Hayes seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
Mr. and Mrs. Stumpf of lot 221 submitted a pool credit request for the months of June and July. Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve the pool sewer credit in the amount of $219.17 for 28,687 gallons. Mr. Hayes seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
Mr. Roberts of lot 374 submitted a pool filling credit request for the months of June and July. Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve the request for 23,336 gallons, in the amount of $178.29. Mr. Hayes seconded the motion, and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
Continuing with the Open Forum, Ms. Julie Romano of lot 1065 presented some questions. The first question was regarding the Class A Operator. The Class A Operator should be either Contracted or a full-time employee. Is the current Class A Operator contracted? There is no resolution on this question yet, and it is ongoing.
It was brought to Julie Romano’s attention, by someone who works out here, that JULIE digs are not being done in a timely manner. Ms. Romano had an AT&T line being put in, with a dig 8/19, which is to be done 8/21, which is the 48 hours, and didn’t show up until 8/22, which verifies what the contractor said. Ms. Romano said she instructed the contractor to come to the meeting, and they said they will just file a complaint. The fee for a standard locate can be up to $2,500 fee, and for an emergency locate is $5,000 fine.
Ms. Romano said there was only one class 4 operator for the lagoon, and he is no longer employed by the District. It is mandatory to have a class 4 operator for the lagoon. So, this needs to be looked into.
Ms. Romano said there are four serious citations and one other citation from the OSHA inspection . Number 3 is Hazmat Communication Training, and #5 is Protective equipment. This is some of the stuff that Ms. Romano says she has been mentioning over and over, and she has issues with this.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of August 12, 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 August 12, 2024 meeting. Mr. Hayes seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
The minutes of the special meeting on August 26, 2024 for the Detailed Budget to be approved, were submitted for approval. Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve the August 26, 2024 special meeting minutes. Mr. Hayes seconded the motion, and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
The minutes of the July 8, 2024 executive session were submitted for approval, after being tabled at the August 12, 2024 meeting. After a review of the minutes, Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve the July 8, 2024 executive meeting minutes. Mr. Hayes 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 August, 2024. No Motion necessary.
DISBURSEMENTS
The August 2024 Accounts Payable disbursements were reviewed for approval. Mr. Hayes made a motion to approve the August 2024 disbursements. Mr. Murphy seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
Unsell, Schattnik and Phillips submitted an invoice for legal fees from July 30, 2024 through August 29, 2024. Mr. Hayes made a motion to approve the invoice for legal fees. Mr. Murphy seconded the motion, and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
There were no invoices submitted for Mr. Hayes to sign.
APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS Water/Sewer applications for July 2024 and August 2024 were submitted for approval. Mr. Hayes made a motion to approve the applications for July 2024 and August 2024. Mr. Murphy seconded the motion, and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
OTHER
The water and sewer Pool/Leak credit policy has been updated. The form must be filled out and submitted to the office prior to the meeting. The changes were made after a discussion at the August 12, 2024 meeting. One of the changes was to set 6,500 gallons as a minimum number of gallons which is approximately $50.00 minimum per request. Also, allow the first pool filling request to be presented at the meeting, without the customer attending the meeting. However, if a second request is submitted, they must attend. Any other request, such as an outside water leak or new sod watering, the customer must attend the meeting. In case of an outside leak, it will be discussed on a case-by-case basis. A general rule, if it is approved, a major outside leak will receive the sewer credit and a 25% reduction on the water used, and this needs to be added to the policy. Ms. Lankster asked Ms. Phillips if this should be written into an ordinance, and she responded that it should be, but wait until a final agreement is made on all of the changes.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
There was a question carried forward from the June 2024 meeting regarding The Cross Connection Survey being combined with the Material line survey. Mr. Urban said we combined the two surveys to save money on mailers, and trying to get customers to respond to two surveys. Ms. Phillips said there is not any known exposure to any penalties for combining the two surveys. Ms. Romano stated that she read in the Cross Connection Ordinance that the person who does the inspections must be done by a Certified Inspector. So, the only way they can come into a home is if they are a certified cross connect inspector. Ms. Phillips stated that the answer at the moment, is that there has been no exposure to a penalty. To the extent of moving forward, the question would be, does something need to be changed proceeding forward to next year? No Notification has come forward, directly at this point about any exposure to a penalty.
Another question was carried forward from the June meeting regarding Material Line Survey, which was due April 2024. There was no extension filed, so there was a concern that there could be fines assessed. Ms. Phillips stated that there has been no indication of exposure to penalties at this time. No notification has been received.
The CCR (Consumer Confidence Report) was discussed. There was a question in June regarding why the District did not publish the entire report when there was a violation listed. Mr. Urban stated that the violation was related to the Lead & Copper exceedance, because 3 of the 20 testing sites exceeded the level for lead. The exceedance is not a violation, but there are six things that need to be done. There was paperwork that had to be turned in to explain water treatment changes that have been done to alleviate any corrosiveness, if needed. The paperwork was turned in a few days late, which caused the seven-day violation. All of the other five requirements were met.
Ms. Romano said her original question regarding the CCR was why there was no public notification? She did not receive anything. Certop was the Class A Operator in charge at the time, therefore the question should be posed to Certop, if there should have been public notification of the paperwork violation, and why the CCR Report was not published in full, instead of just the link to type out.
Ms. Erin Phillips, district counsel, met with the attorney general office in July. The meeting included a question about the requirements of the IEPA for website postings if there is not a full time IT employee on staff. The AAG, Assistant Attorney General, is focused on the on-going lagoon issues at this time, and the website is not flagged as a concern, at the moment. It is more important to get through the next stage of the approval process on the lagoon issue.
There was a comment from the August meeting that there was a mis-statement in the June 10, 2024 meeting minutes. Ms. Phillips did some research, and recommends that the correction is simply noted in these meeting minutes, if there was an error. It is not recommended, as a standard rule by Roberts Rules of Order, the Illinois Municipal League, etc., to go back and correct minutes. However, we can note it in these minutes as a correction. The June 10, 2024 meeting minutes stated that Rob Clarkson said that a JULIE locate is called in before digging. However, after Ms. Lankster listened to the recording again, she noted that Mr. Clarkson did not make any comment in that particular discussion in June. It was Ms. Halverson that made the statement that JULIE Locates are supposed to be called in before digging.
Ms. Julie Romano, of lot 1065 asked at the August meeting if the detailed Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Budget will be available to the public, after it is approved. The Budget Ordinance will be published. The detailed budget will be available for public inspection here at in the office.
There was no change in the information regarding grant information.
There was a class A Water operator test taken in August, 2024. Mr. Joe Urban has passed the test, and he has submitted the paperwork, and is waiting for his certification to be returned. The process could take a month.
There was a discussion of the Action Item list. For #1, Mr. Urban passed the Class A test. He will be the Class A, Responsible Operator in charge, after the paperwork is approved. Number 2 is being worked on. Mr. Clarkson contacted James at the local IEPA to have names removed from the IEPA website, and will follow up. Action item #3 is regarding grant opportunities. Mr. Clarkson did some research on the Illinois Municipal League website, and was not able to access the grant information. It was only available to Municipalities, defined as cities, and did not list any Sanitary Districts. Ms. Phillips suggested that Rob should contact the IML to find out, specifically, if a Sanitary District is eligible. Number 4 is for employee performance reviews and will be discussed in Executive Session. Number 5 if regarding the mis-statement on the June 10, 2024 meeting minutes, which was corrected in these minutes. Number 6 is regarding the detailed budget being available to the public, and that is answered in these minutes. Number 7 is approval process of Executive meeting minutes, which has been answered. Number 8 regarding the pool credit policy, and is in the process of being updated. Number 9 is for the CCR report to be discussed in detail with the Trustees, which will be at a later meeting. Number 10 is a letter to Holishor Association about digging, and is not yet complete. Number 11 is regarding the class A operator, which will be taken care of when Mr. Urban receives his official certification, and number 12 regarding ordinance electronic availability does not have any updates at this time.
There were four other action items for the AWWA conference. The Cyber security assessment for vulnerability is tabled for now. Number 2 is regarding the lab testing for PFAS in the water. Mr. Clarkson has sent in the samples and should have results before the October meeting. Number 3 is regarding the training for Disaster Management from FEMA/DHS, which is still being researched. The fourth item is some form of an odor eliminator for the main lift station. Mr. Clarkson has received two quotes, but both are expensive solutions, and he is still researching other alternatives.
NEW BUSINESS
Ordinance No. 2024-2025, the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Budget Ordinance, was presented for approval. This is a summary of the detailed Budget that was approve at the special meeting held August 26, 2024. Mr. Murphy made a motion to approve Budget Ordinance No. 2024-2025. Mr. Hayes seconded the motion, and all Trustees voted “Aye”. The Budge Ordinance will be published and will be posted on the website. However, the detail will be available for public viewing at the office, but will not be posted on the website.
There was a short discussion about the possible early payoff of the Water Tower loan. We would do a resolution to pay off the loan, and an ordinance would be written up to change the Water Tower fee to be added to the Water Plant Debt Service fee, so there would not be an increase in the customer charges. That change will be written up in an Ordinance. Ms. Phillips suggested talking with the auditors for the District, to see if they have any concerns.
OPERATIONS REPORT
Mr. Clarkson presented the Operations reports for August 2024. The report is an attachment to the minutes.
ADJOURN TO EXECUTIVE SESSION
Adjourn to executive session, pursuant to Statute 5ILCS 120/2 (C)(1), to discuss employee compensation and other 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. Hayes seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
BACK IN REGULAR MEETING FROM THE EXECUTIVE SESSION
There was nothing discussed in executive session that required a vote for approval.
ADJOURNMENT OF REGULAR MEETING
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
Operations Report August 2024
Water
PFAS Samples submitted to TEK Lab. Awaiting results
BACT/TOC sampling completed with passing results
Repairs to Water/Plant Equipment:
Static Mixer for Coagulant leaking. Found corrosion pin holes on bottom of mixer body. Currently being quoted for repair. Currently we have a Stainless-Steel mixer in place. We are investigating a PVC model to possibly save some costs and increase life expectancy. This is something we do not feel comfortable taking upon ourselves due to it affecting the entire plant operation.
Water main hit on Tampico by JF Electric. Resulted in 5 houses put on precautionary boil order. All affected homes were notified via phone calls. Repair made after lab hours so boil order was longer than usual. Samples taken Wednesday morning and passing notification received Thursday afternoon, boil order lifted and affected residents notified.
We purchased concrete blocks and built 2 storage containments for rock and Agg behind the water plant. We will have rock and Agg delivered and stored on site instead of having to drive backhoe to get it from Yates yard on Moro rd. Saves wear and tear on equipment and time. Two blocks were used to create a barrier between drive and diesel fuel tank. This was a suggestion made by the OSHA inspector during his visit to the Water Plant.
OSHA Abatement Certification completed and submitted before deadline. Email confirmation received from inspector with closed file.
Sewer
Total call outs for month were 8. We changed out 7 grinder pumps in the month. Pump rebuilds are being conducted in house again.
We repaired 3 sewer leaks at or around grinder tanks, replaced 2 valves inside tanks, and all required excavations.
Estimated arrival time of locating equipment is November. Training will be completed just before we get the equipment and is included in the package price. 2 employees will attend a 2 ½ day training at the supplier’s headquarters in Wisconsin.
No word from EPA on fine or litigations dates for Lagoon.
Unfinished business
Cross connection/Service line material survey in progress. Electronic and paper copies to be filed and report filed to IEPA for compliance. Currently have received 335 forms back.
Class A testing Joe passed his test. Paperwork submitted to IEPA and as soon as it is finalized we will no longer need Class A services outsourced.
Sub surface instruments bid of $7995.00 for locating equipment approved order has been placed.