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May 16, 2023 Meeting Minutes

Call to Order:  Chairman Bob Hughey called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm at the District Office 79 Wiley Lane in Makanda. A roll call was taken.

Board Members present were Chairman Bob Hughey, Vice-Chairman Kimberly Cole, and Trustees Paul Heern, and Karen Fiorino.  Trustee Dickson was absent and there is one Trustee position for Jackson County currently vacant.

Staff and Professionals:                                      Present                                 Absent

Treasurer, Mike Williamsen,                                 Present         

District Secretary Mike Twomey,                        Present

Legal Counsel Mike Twomey,                              Present

Engineer Joe Boyke,                                                                                              Absent          

FT Staff:  WSO, Alex Heidbreder                         Present

     Office Manager, Sage Lintner             Present

Visitors present and Visitor Requests: 

  1. Warren Ladner visited the Board meeting this evening to sit in, introduce himself, and present his interest to join the Board.  Chair Hughey asked Mr. Ladner to introduce himself and he presented his background and gave the Board a good overview of himself.  He is currently the new CFO for Southern Illinois Healthcare and has relocated to Makanda recently.  The Board gave Mr. Ladner a warm welcome and he was invited to sit for the entire meeting and for further discussion later in the meeting.

Customer Requests: 

  1.  None

Approval of Minutes:  Trustee Brewer made a motion to accept the minutes of April 11, 2023, seconded by Trustee Heern and with a voice vote of (5) yay votes and (0) nay votes.  the minutes of 04/11/2023 were approved. 

Communications for March 2023: 

None.

New business: 

  1. Annual election of Board Chair:  A motion was made to nominate Bob Hughey as Board chair was made by Trustee Heern and 2nd by Trustee Fiorino.  A roll call vote of 5 yes, 0 no was taken and the motion passed with Bob Hughey elected as Board Chair.
  2. Annual election of Board Vice-Chair: A motion was made to nominate Kimberly Cole as Board Vice-chair was made by Trustee Fiorino and 2nd by Trustee Brewer.  A roll call vote of 5 yes, 0 no was taken and the motion passed with Kimberly Cole elected as Board Vice-Chair.
  3. Annual election of Treasurer:  A motion was made to nominate Mike Williamsen as Board Treasurer was made by Trustee Heern and 2nd by Trustee Brewer.  A roll call vote of 5 yes, 0 no was taken and the motion passed with Mike Williamsen elected as Board Treasurer.
  4. Annual election of District Secretary: A motion was made to nominate Mike Twomey as Board Secretary was made by Trustee Heern and 2nd by Trustee Cole.  A roll call vote of 5 yes, 0 no was taken and the motion passed with Mike Twomey elected as Board District Secretary.
  5. Annual election of Engineering firm: A motion was made to nominate and retain Horner and Schifrin as Board Engineering firm was made by Trustee Heern and 2nd by Trustee Brewer.  A roll call vote of 5 yes, 0 no was taken, and the motion passed with Horner and Shiffrin elected as Board Engineering firm.
  6. Annual election of Auditing Firm: A motion was made to nominate Scott Hickam and his firm as Board Auditing firm was made by Trustee Brewer and 2nd by Trustee Heern.  A roll call vote of 5 yes, 0 no was taken, and the motion passed with Scott Hickam and his firm elected as Board Auditor.
  7. Annual election of Legal Counsel:  A motion was made to nominate Mike Twomey and his firm as Board Legal counsel was made by Trustee Heern and 2nd by Trustee Cole.  A roll call vote of 5 yes, 0 no was taken and the motion passed with Mike Twomey and his firm elected as Board Legal Counsel.
  8. Mike Twomey reported that he received a call from Brian Bush asking when his contract expires or if the current one is still valid.  Sage looked up the date and said that it expires in March 2024.  Mr. Bush would like to change his fees at that time since the contract is 10 years old.  There was Board discussion regarding bill payments and in the new contract they would like to insert language regarding dates we are to get invoices after the work is completed and dates that we are required to pay by.

Old business:

  1. Congressional spending grant opportunity:  Office manager Lintner updated the Board that the requested amount of $150,000 has been elevated to go before Congressional committee in 2024.  PENDING
  • IEPA re-opened grant for Lead Service Line inventory:  Office manager Lintner updated the Board that a request for $30,000 is pending announcement any day.  PENDING
  • Repair of roof, Water/wiring damage-Insurance Claim:  Office manager Lintner reported that no instructions for the repair have been issued.  Chair Hughey will write out the instructions for the ridge cap and metal repair.  PENDING
  • Employee handbook Rev. 2.0 updates:  The handbook is being printed and will be bound by the Printing Plant as soon as possible.  The work is underway, and Sage is printing the pages as they are finalized.  PENDING
  • Jackson County Board member vacancy:  Office manager Lintner reported that she has two (2) applications for Board member appointments, and they are both approved with Jackson County Board.  Warren Ladner attended tonight’s meeting and is willing to accept the position if offered to him.PENDING
  • Work Group 1, Ordinance review. Vice Chair reported that there is nothing new to report at this meeting. PENDING
  • Work Group 2, Water loss:  Vice Chair reported that there has been no meeting and there is nothing new to report at this meeting.  No meeting currently scheduled. PENDING
  • Strategic plan Five (5) Year: Vice Chair Cole is working to further develop the strategic plan for BPWD. No new update PENDING
  1. Lead (pb) sample site plan review and update:  The review was submitted to the IEPA on January 4th, 2023 and is awaiting IEPA approval.  An email was received from the IEPA that they are short staffed and currently the approval process is backlogged.  Therefore, the old site plan remains in effect and hopefully this will be approved before our samples are due to be collected again in 2024.  This item will be moved to Correspondence/ROINC report for any future action on this item.  PENDING-MOVED TO ROINC AND CORRESPONCE
  • Lead (pb) service line inventory:  The spreadsheet of the inventory completed data was submitted to the IEPA by ROINC Cole by the deadline of April 15, 2023.  The remaining work for the project will be planned, discussed, and scheduled for the final inventory deadline of April 2024.  PENDING
  • GPS mapping:  Office manager Lintner reported that this item has requested this in both grant applications. She will update the quote for the work.  PENDING
  • Cross connection survey and program:  ROINC Cole has the survey binder and continues the work to review and sign each one. PENDING
  • Chad with Midwest Meter:  Chairman Hughey will meet with Chad in June and learn more on the update of our system.  PENDING
  • Publication of Ordinance 5.01 on the most recent rate increase in Carbondale Times and Monday Pub:  This was done in both publications.  RESOLVED
  • Investment of $50,000 in T-bill by Treasurer Williamsen:  This has been completed through Charles Schwab at 5.04% interest rate.  It is a 6-month duration maturing in October and we can roll-over into another with the best rate.  RESOLVED
  • March 2023 fire-fighting water bill to Makanda Fire Department:  They asked us to bill the homeowner.  Chair Hughey would like to attend a township meeting to discuss the bills going to the fire department.   There was Board discussion:  The Fire district needs to notify the WSO and Mike Twomey.  They should take responsibility for the water, instead of the customer.  This change needs to be made with the Fire district and a letter needs to be drafted along with the bill.  PENDING
  • Discussion on the use of Pirate ship discount app for UPS shipments.  It requires a PayPal account and this will be investigated in the future by Office manager Lintner.  PENDING and moved to Office manager report

Carbondale Water District:  Nothing new to report

Office manager Lintner report (attached):

Maintenance water Operator Heidbreder report (attached):

Accounting and Financial reports, April 2023: Treasurer reviewed the April 2023 accounting and financial reports with the Board. He reported that our budget was over-spent with water sales down and expenses up.  We do have funds to pay the bills.  The new rate increase will cover this and bring in $5500 new revenue in the 2nd half of the year and we should be better financially at the close of 2023.

Payment of the bills and approval of April 2023 disbursements:  Treasurer Williamsen reviewed the bills to be paid this month.  Chair Hughey questioned a duplicate payment for our insurance company premium.  Office manager Lintner is researching it. PENDING  Mike Twomey recommended best that we overpay and not be late or underpayment.  Trustee Heern made a motion to pay the bills. Trustee Brewer made a 2nd. A roll call vote was taken and 5 ayes, and 0 nays was obtained, and motion passed to pay the bills.

Water supply Operators (Kenny Cowan) report:  No report

ROINC Kimberly Cole report:

ROINC Cole reported on April 2023 with all IEPA regulatory duties performed. The Illinois State Water survey on-line data completion is pending.

  1. The cross-connection survey is complete. The program for BPWD is being finalized for Board approval. Requirements of backflow prevention found in the customers survey will follow once program is complete.  Currently signing the surveys.   Pending                                          
  2. Ten (10) missing operating permits that need to be submitted on BPWD projects dating back into the 1990’s. Pending
  3. The (8) recommendations will be added to the agenda to be discussed at the water loss workgroup. These were discussed with MWSO Heidbreder, and he will review and get up to speed on this list. Pending

Approval of the ROINC report by the Board motion was presented by Trustee Fiorino and 2nd by Trustee Brewer.  A voice vote of 5 yays and 0 nays was taken and the motion passed and report approved.

Additional Public comments or questions: 

Invitation by Chairman Hughey of Mr. Warren Ladner to join the Buncombe Public Water District Board:  Following discussion and the invitation, Mr. Ladner accepted the invitation.  A motion was made by Trustee Heern and 2nd by Trustee Brewer to accept Mr. Warren Ladner as a Jackson County Trustee and a voice vote of 5 yays 0 nays was taken and the motion passed. 

Executive session: None

Motion for Adjournment:  Trustee Fiorino made a motion to adjourn, and 2nd by Trustee Brewer. All in favor by voice 5 ayes, and 0 nays, the motion carried to adjourn.

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