Meeting Minutes of June 14, 1993

The meeting was called to order at 7:02 pm by Chairman Richard Jumps. The roll was called. Present were Trustees Ms. Cathie Hutcheson, Mrs. Frances Youngblood, Mr. Jerry Burton, Mr. Maurice Betts, Mr. Stanley Hollister, Ms. Donna Williams, and Chairman Richard Jumps. Employees present were Mr. Ron Lada, Mrs. Becky Roberts, and Ms. Karol Abrams.

Others Present: Mr. Terry Heern, potential water line customer of Cobden, IL.

Chairman Jumps welcomed new trustee Donna Williams and new Secretary/Treasurer Karol Abrams.

Minutes of the May 10, 1993 meeting were discussed and submitted for approval. Mr. Jerry Burton submitted changing the spelling of “Carol” to “Karol” in paragraph 15. There being no further corrections, Trustee Maurice Betts made a motion to accept the minutes with one correction. The motion was seconded by Mrs. Youngblood. A roll call vote was taken: Ms. Hutcheson – yes, Mr. Betts – yes, Mrs. Youngblood – yes, Mr. Burton – yes, Mr. Betts – yes, Ms. Williams – yes, Mr. Hollister – yes, and Chairman Jumps – yes. There being 7 yes votes and 0 no votes, the motion carried.

Chairman Jumps introduced Mr. Terry Heern who was representing a group of people from lower Cobden Road who were interested in the possibility of obtaining water service from Buncombe Public Water District. Chairman Jumps turned the meeting over to Mr. Heern at this time. Mr. Heern stated that he felt he had 25 people who would be willing to sign on for water service, 8 people who were not interested and 2 people who would fall into a maybe category. Discussion ensued concerning line extensions, water pipe sizes, easements, and legalities. Mr. Herrn presented the trustees with a map outlining possible placement of the water line. Chairman Jumps provided Mr. Herrn with a copy of Buncombe Public Water District ordinance Chapter 4 and a checklist for line extensions provided by Mr. Don Paige. The Board of Trustees recommended that Mr. Heern contact an engineer of his choosing and check on financial feasibility, regulations, and requirements, and then contact the Board of Trustees with any concerns, questions, or requests for additional information. Mr. Heern inquired about customers that did not sign on in the beginning of the line extension, but then later decided that they would want water service. Trustee Betts and Trustee Burton answered these concerns by listing the possibilities of recovery at a later date. Mr. Heern stated that he would meet with some engineers and report back at a later time.

Communications for May 1993:

1. Chairman Jumps read a letter from Buncombe Public Water District attorney Sheila Simon concerning a hitch in the scheduled arbitration on the South Highway Water District dispute. General discussion occurred concerning the Board of Trustees’ stand on this correspondence and Trustee Hollister recommended with Chairman Jumps that the Board of Trustees draft a letter to Attorney Simon Requesting that she contact the Judge about continuing with the original arbitrators or falling back to the choice of Keith Rendleman as arbitrator. Trustees Hollister stated that he would draft such a letter.
2. Chairman Jumps read a letter from State’s Attorney Chuck Grace’s Office concerning an Open Meeting Act Seminar to be held 6/24/93 from 7:00 – 9:00 pm at the Herrin Civic Center in Herrin, Illinois. This seminar will be co-sponsored by the Williamson County States Attorney’s Office and the Southern Illinoisian and is open to all public officials and interested parties.
3. Chairman Jumps read a letter form State Representative Gerald Hawkins concerning the passage of HB 233, which BPWD supported, and Representative Hawkins was a co-sponsor of. Representative Hawkins also advised that HB 633, which BPWD opposed, died in committee for lack of support.

Customer Requests: The Board of Trustees discussed the Billie Jacobini line extension. Trustee Hollister directed Ms. Abrams and Mrs. Roberts to contact Asaturian and Eaton Engineering to obtain any further information concerning the sealing of the corp stop and date the project was completed so that any issues and billings could be resolved.

Secretary/Treasurer Report was read and accepted. The water loss was discussed by Trustee Hollister who stated that an engineer checked out the water tower. It was suspected that there was a separated line leaking when the pumps were running. The Tower was inspected both outside and inside and the engineer will be sending BPWD a written report. The engineer said that the water flow inside of the tower was condensation. Trustee Betts said that instead of painting the entire tower, the engineer also stated that some spot repairs would be possible. The Tower only had very small damage and that with spot repairs, BPWD could go 10 years without a paint job. General discussion ensued about this.

The Financial report was read and accepted. New signature cards were presented for the change of Secretary/Treasurer.

Payment of the Bills: The bills were presented in the amount of $12,622.25. Mr. Hollister passed around expense sheets concerning the office renovation and explained the charges to date that have been incurred as a result of the renovation. Mr. Hollister and Mr. Betts discussed cost-saving measures that they undertook to bring down the cost of furniture for the new office. Mr. Lada and Mr. Hollister discussed the HOE invoice and explained that items were back-ordered and shipped all at once for the new meter upgrades and that was the reason that the invoices was so high. Mr. Betts made a motion to pay the bills after transferring $7,000.00 into the fund account from the Operations/Maintenance account. Mr. Hollister seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken: Ms. Hutcheson – yes, Mrs. Youngblood – yes, Mr. Burton – yes, Mr. Betts – yes, Ms. Williams – yes, Mr. Hollister – yes, and Chairman Jumps – yes. There being 7 yes votes and 0 no votes, the motion carried.

Water Supply Operator Report: Mr. Lada reported that he was completed 5 work orders for the month and has 16 to finish. Mr. Lada attended summer camp for the National Guard and has been working on work orders since he returned. There was general discussion concerning two (2) spots that needed checked for possible leaks. Mr. Lada said that he  would follow up on those. The renovation and bathroom were discussed and Mr. Lada updated the Board of Trustees on the progress. A fire safe cabinet still needs moved from Mrs. Roberts’s house and Mr. Wheetley will be contacted concerning this. Mr. Hollister discussed a work order for Mr. Lada concerning the signage for the fence and the payment drop box. The Lead/copper testing results were discussed. Only one reading came back high from Mr. Hartline’s, Mr. Lada contacted Springfield and they wanted to a retest that was conducted the prior Wednesday.

Lead/Copper Testing: Mrs. Roberts stated that each customer that was not a BPWD board member was credited for their participation in the lead and copper testing. They were credited $5.00 each on their May water bills.

New Office – General discussion took place concerning mailing an announcement to all customers about the new office and services that could be offered. The Board of Trustees agreed that photocopies could be offered at $0.05 per copy for customers and $0.15 per all others. Ms. Abrams discussed the procedure for becoming a notary public. She informed the Board that it requires a notary bond from Cherry insurance and around $65.00 in fees all together. Mr. Hollister made a motion that Buncombe Public Water District fund the fees for Ms. Abrams to obtain her notary public commission. Mr. Betts seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken: Ms. Hutcheson – yes, Mrs. Youngblood – yes, Mr. Burton – yes, Mr. Betts – yes, Ms. Williams – yes, Mr. Hollister – yes, Chairman Jumps – yes. There being 7 yes votes and 0 no votes, the motion carried. Ms. Abrams was instructed to pursue the completion of her notary commission. Ms. Abrams signed the Secretary/Treasurer’s agreement and Chairman Jumps signed it for the Board of Trustees. Mr. Hollister suggested a raffle in the mailing of the announcement, but the idea failed for lack of a motion. Mrs. Roberts stated that Ms. Abrams and herself would mail the announcement around July 5, with the regular monthly bills. Mr. Hollister stated that he would meeting with Ms. Abrams to draft the announcement and that each Board member could sign off on it during business hours. Ms. Hutcheson could not make it in to review so Ms. Abrams said she would deliver it to her for her approval.

The monthly meeting adjourned by motion of Ms. Hutcheson and seconded by Mrs. Youngblood. Voice vote – all yes. Meeting adjourned at 8:36 pm.