Meeting Minutes of December 12, 2006
Chairman Daniel cook called the meeting to order at 7:00pm. A roll call was taken and present were: Chairman Daniel Cook, Vice Chairman Joseph Burrow, Secretary/Treasurer Karen Dunn, Trustees Tammy Davis, Greg Dunn, Mike Starling, Debbie Wheetley, and Water Supply Operator Ron Lada. Absent was Trustee Jenny Jaros.
Visitor in attendance was Mr. Praveen Sunny, PE, Asaturian Eaton and Associates.
The meeting opened by reviewing the minutes of the November 2006 meeting. A motion was made by Mrs. Wheetley to accept the minutes as presented. Seconded by Vice Chairman Burrow and with 5 yes and 0 no votes, the minutes were approved.
No visitor or customer requests were presented.
The first communication presented to the board was an invitation to a Holiday Open House sponsored by Brooks Venable, Edward Jones Investment Company.
As the October 2006 financials were unavailable for review, the Board continued by reviewing the letter from the IEPA related to their recent visit with Water Supply Operator, Ron Lada. Mr. Lada noted their conversations related to cross connection control, an emergency management plan, a 5-year capital improvement plan, a 5-year operating budget, and sampling requirements for system wide boil orders, among other issues.
Under the order of old business, Mr. Praveen Sunny addressed the status of the new pump station installation. He explained that the foundation for the new building had been poured by DD Williams Construction during the Thanksgiving weekend. Building delivery and installation was discussed, along with a start-up by Engineered Fluid scheduled for January 3, 2007. It was noted that back filling was still required along with the bacteria and pressure testing. Due to weather related issues, Mr. Sunny recommended a change order requesting a time extension for DD Williams Construction Company to January 15, 2007. Mr. Williams indicated on an itemized statement that project completion was at 93.55% and requested a partial payment in the amount of $22,329.00.
A motion was made by Vice Chairman Burrow to extend to DD Williams Construction Company a contract time extension for completion to January 15, 2007. Seconded by Mrs. Davis and with 5 yes and 0 no votes, the motion was approved. Next, a motion was made by Mr. Starling to authorize a partial payment to DD Williams Construction Company for the amount requested of $22,329.00. Seconded by Vice Chairman Burrow and with 5 yes and 0 no votes, the motion was approved.
Under the order of new business, Secretary Karen Dunn expressed concerns related to the manner in which the District was compensating Board Members and employees. Mrs. Dunn also noted that procedures during the regular scheduled board meetings and executive session may not have conducive to the laws of the Open Meetings Act. As the District does not have legal representation as called for in the Ordinances. Mrs. Dunn recommended the District Board readdress the issue of acquiring legal counsel. Vice Chairman Burrow agreed that an attorney was needed. Mr. Dunn added that as the District has engineering consultants, there should be a legal direction as well. Discussion continued related to these issues. It was agreed that incentives via rate reduction offered to Board Members and employees be retracted effective immediately until an alternative method can be cleared through legal counsel. A motion was made by Mr. Dunn to discontinue the rate reduction incentive immediately. Seconded by Mrs. Davis and with 5 yes and 0 no votes, the motion was approved. Another motion was made by Mrs. Wheetley to obtain the legal services of Patricia Hoke, Attorney. Seconded by Vice Chairman Burrow and with 5 yes and 0 no votes, the motion carried. Karen Dunn was then instructed to invite Mrs. Hoke to the next meeting of the Board of Trustees.
Next addressed was the schedule of the Trustee’s Meetings for 2007 and the Operating Budget for 2007. Discussion followed as the Board reviewed the proposed budget based on actual from 2006 and projected forecasts for the upcoming year. A motion was made by Mr. Starling to accept the schedule of Trustees Meeting for 2007 as presented; seconded by Mrs. Wheetley and with 5 yes and 0 no votes, the motion carried. Next, a motion was made by Mr. Dunn to accept the Operating Budget for 2007 as presented; seconded by Vice Chairman Burrow and with 5 yes and 0 no votes, the motion carried.
Annual employee Christmas bonuses were addressed, and after discussion, a motion was made by Mrs. Wheetley to extend to each of the two district employees a Christmas bonus in the amount of $250.00; seconded by Mr. Starling and with 5 yes and 0 no votes, the motion carried.
No South Highway Water related business was presented.
The Secretary/Treasurer Report was presented by Karen Dunn along with the Accounts Payable Report detailing bills for payment in December. It was noted that during the month of December, payment on the bond including interest was due requiring funds from the Debt Service Account. Also required is a transfer of funds from the Repair/Improvement account to pay DD Williams Construction Company and Engineered Fluid. A motion was made by Mrs. Davis to transfer $12,600 from the Debt Service Account and $35,185 from the Repair/Improvement to fund new pump station expenditures, to accept the Secretary/Treasurer Report as presented, and to pay the bills. Seconded by Mr. Dunn; and with 5 yes and 0 no votes, the motion was approved.
The Water Supply Operator Report was presented by Ron Lada with no major discrepancies. Upon completion of his report, Mr. Lada presented a documentation pertaining to the Jacobini Line Extension installation in 1992. As there was some confusion related to the completion of the project during discussion at the last meeting of the Board. Mr. Lada presented documents signed by District officials, the contractor and Mrs. Jacobini verifying that the project had been completed to the satisfaction of the customer.
At this time, Chairman Cook revisited the issue of the Budget and addressed the need of an annual rate increase as recommended by the District Audit Accountant, Scott Hickam, at a prior meeting. After considerable discussion related to expenditures and the effects of cost-of-living, a motion was made by Mr. Starling to increase the water rates by 2.5% across the board. Seconded by Vice Chairman Burrow and with 5 yes and 0 no votes, the motion carried. Karen Dunn was instructed to modify the Operating Budget for 2007 accordingly.
There being no further business, a motion was made for adjournment. A voice count was taken and with 5 yes and 0 no votes, the meeting was adjourned.