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Minutes of July 12, 2022

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 Hughey, Vice Chairman Kim Cole, and Trustees Grace Brewer, John Dickson, and Paul Heern.

Trustees Joseph Burrow and Pat Brierton were absent.

Staff and Professionals:

Treasurer, Mike Williamsen was present.

The District Secretary position is vacant temporarily.

The Professionals present at the meeting were Mike Twomey, Legal Counsel and Joe Boyke, Engineer.

Staff present:  Water Operators Kenny Cowan, new Water operator, Alex Heidbreder and Office Manager, Sage Lintner. Absent:  Sherry Cowan, and Water Operator Bill Dailey.

Visitors present:  None

Approval of Minutes:  The Board reviewed the revised minutes of the June 14, 2022, regular meeting minutes. Trustee Brewer made a motion to accept the minutes of June 14, 2022, seconded by Trustee Heern and with a roll call vote of (5) yay votes and (0) nay votes.; the minutes of 6/14/2022 were approved.

Visitor and Customer Requests:  None

Communications for June 2022:  None             

New business: 

  1. Welcome to Alex Heidbreder, new maintenance water operator. Resolved
  2. ROINC contract renewal by Kimberly Cole effective July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023, was presented with Class A license renewal completed through the IEPA. Resolved
  3. July 26, 2022 will be the ICMRT safety audit and then every 2-3 years. Alex put up smoke detectors, will get a fire extinguisher. No emergency lighting, no exit sign. Work being done to correct for this inspection. PENDING
  4. Golf course 4 sections auction pending July 18, 2022, and effects on billing:  Mike Twomey explained the auction, billings owed, and BPWD options. PENDING

Old business:

  1. District Secretary replacement:  Discussion by the Board and position was offered to Mike Twomey. He accepted the invitation. Trustee Heern made a motion to accept Mike Twomey as District Secretary for the 2022-2023 term ending April 30, 2023, seconded by Trustee Brewer and with a voice vote of all in favor yay votes and (0) nay votes.; Mike Twomey was approved. Kim agreed to continue to prepare a draft of the minutes for editing. Resolved
  2. Accountant firm replacement update given by Mike Williamsen. Five (5) accounting firms have been interviewed and Amy Parrish is the final recommended choice of Treasurer Williamsen to be approved by the Board. Parrish Langdon Accounting Jonesboro, Illinois, and $150/month with a letter of engagement to be forthcoming. Trustee Brewer made a motion to accept the recommended accountant Amy Parrish, seconded by Trustee Cole and with a roll call vote of (5) yay votes and (0) nay votes.; Accounting firm Parrish and Langdon was approved. Resolved
  3. Ordinance workgroup update:  None PENDING  Water loss workgroup update: Mike Williamsen said that our group will meet again soon. PENDING
  4. Strategic plan ideas from all Trustees were revisited with review of what is needed from the group. A blank spreadsheet was distributed, and Vice-Chair Cole said she would gather the ideas if everyone would fill out the sheet and return to her by mail, email, or the next meeting. Received:  Trustee Brewer, Dickson, and Treasurer Williamsen.  PENDING
  5. Scott Hickham, the BPWD auditor has an intensive audit underway as requested by the Board in April 2022 and he is talking to Sage and Bob following his review of the books. Per Treasurer Williamsen, nothing earth shattering has been found to date. The final report is pending. PENDING
  6. Joe Boyke gave an update for the Board on various projects, invoices, disbursements, and water loss spread sheet. He presented the following items: 1.  Scott Escue invoice for $5400 for cleanup, it is complete. Warranty for the work is 1 year. Water guards will be left in place if homeowners are okay with this. Trustee Brewer made a motion to pay the invoice, seconded by Trustee Heern and with a roll call vote of (5) yay votes and (0) nay votes.; the invoice was approved. Resolved   2. Loan disbursement for $17,287, $5400 Scott Escue, and $11,887.16 previous bills paid that Joe is asking the IEPA to reimburse BPWD. Trustee Heern made a motion to accept the disbursement, seconded by Trustee Dickson and with a roll call vote of (5) yay votes and (0) nay votes.; the disbursement was approved.  Resolved 3. We have $13,221.69 remaining available funds on our loan. Joe is asking the IEPA if we can use it, they have not answered yet. No labor can be included, parts only. We can submit over, but the limit on the loan is $499,999. Pending  4. The operating permit application is signed by Bob after the samples came back good. Resolved 5. There are three (3) leak detector meters that are incorrect Zinner type and unable to read automatically by our system. No one knows how this happened. The golf course is correct, and McGuire is correct.  Rt.3, Church, and Rt 4 are wrong. Pending 6. Joe recommended two (2) flush hydrants for $3000 each.  Pending 7. Joe will get a price on meter to put in PS1, guessing $5000. Pending  8. Billy and Kenny can build a flush mechanism instead of buying a device. Pending
  7. Class D study book for Sage and new maintenance operator to begin study for Class D licenses is needed in the district office and Kim agreed to go and purchase this at John A. Logan college. The board discussed the class given by Chris Johnston for our employees. It is about $400. Office manager Lintner and Maintenance operator Heidbreder and registered pending confirmation of the class at JALC. PENDING
  8. Generator maintenance update: Kenny will show Alex how to start the generator and a log to record maintenance and hours needs to be implemented. Pending
  9. Pump Leak update was given. Chairman Hughey reported that the volute is a concern. C+C pumps cannot get parts to build a new pump impeller. He is hoping they are ready to install it next week. We will have $5000 in this pump. The St. Louis EMS rep is interested to give a replumbing price. EFI built this station so there are a lot of positives to EFI/EMS giving a price on this. PENDING
  10. Extension valve tool:  Bill Dailey assisted and the tool was ordered and has arrived. Resolved
  11. New meters for leak detectors:  The quote for the three (3) meters are $2557.50. Options for the incorrect Zimmer meters are to offer to sell to another district such as So. Highway, post on IRWA marketplace. Board discussion was to purchase the three (3) new meters. Trustee Dickson made a motion to purchase for $2557.50, seconded by Trustee Cole and with a roll call vote of (5) yay votes and (0) nay votes.; the meter purchase was approved. PENDING
  12. Repair exposed line is completed by the county and Jacobini hydrant replacement completed with no leak found at the site, Resolved
  13. Brian Bush contract and invoices:  Chairman Hughey reported that a contract cannot be located. Mike Twomey has a copy of it and will forward it to Chairman Hughey. Mr. Bush found some mistakes in his invoices and is correcting them before payment will be made. PENDING
  14. Inactive meter/low flow report No report Resolved
  15. Loan refinancing and/or investment options presented by Treasurer Williamsen. A recommendation has been made to wait until interest rates settle and table any further discussion and put back on the agenda in September 2022. Pending
  16. Credit card update was given by Office Manager Lintner that no action has been successful to get the $800 increased. Pending
  17. Meter hardware plan to open and look at each meter:  Office manager Lintner is developing a spreadsheet for the plan and Chad needs to come in to do some training on meters with new staff. PENDING
  18. Number of days for non-payment ordinance review:  There are only two (2) delinquent accounts as of now, so the number of days does not need to be change. The Board was pleased with Office Lintner’s progress on this matter. Resolved
  19. Treasurer Williamsen reported that the pending First Mid letter has been signed by all to move our investment records. Resolved

Carbondale Water District:  Nothing new to report

Office manager report:

  1. More ACH sign ups.
  2. Discovered the problem with the ACH billing in June and the bank was able to fix it. Selected wrong drop down box.
  3. Learned how to profile meters
  4. Meter reading went smooth
  5. Scott Hickham is doing the 2022 audit and the district office can become accurate once again on finances using the most recent jump drive reconcile.
  6. Reviewed Brian Bush incorrect invoices and working with him to resubmit
  7. Enrolled in JALC water class with IEPA engineer, Chris Johnston
  8. Fax machine not connected
  9. Need an IT person
  10. Jackson County health department blocks email, working to correct.
  11. Requests switch to Verizon
  12. Disposal of records going well with Michael Hall from the State of Illinois, almost done.
  13. Milage went from $.59 to $.62 this year
  14. Cross connection survey 2nd notice going out with deadline August 1.
  15. Office manager Lintner presented a $1000 estimate for a new computer with Cambridge software capability ready. Trustee Heern made a motion for Office manager to purchase a new computer, seconded by Trustee Brewer with a roll call vote of (5) yay votes and (0) nay votes.; the purchase not to exceed $1000 was approved.
  16. Office manager Lintner will be off work July 20-24 and August 4-7, 2022, and unavailable.

Accounting and Financial report: Treasurer Williamsen reviewed the June 2022 accounting and financial reports with the Board. He offered Office manager Lintner congratulations on her excellent performance on collections and billing. He offered water operators Dailey and Cowan congratulations on an excellent job with distribution. Board discussed an account transfer for Bush invoices on repairs.

Payment of the bills and approval of July 2022 disbursements:  Office Manager Lintner gave the report on the bills and expenses to be paid for the month. Trustee Brewer made a motion to pay the bills. A second was made by Trustee Heern. A roll call vote was taken and 5 ayes, and 0 nays was obtained, and motion passed to pay the bills.

Water supply Operators (Bill Dailey/Kenny Cowan) report:  Given

ROINC Kimberly Cole report:

ROINC Cole provided a routine activity report for the month of June with all duties performed, CCR completed, and all samples satisfactory. The IEPA Operational report was submitted.

No recent updates on the progress on the remaining violations and recommendations that were given to BPWD at the Feb. 26, 2021, IEPA inspection. This will be a priority as soon as the office and Office manager Lintner is oriented to assist with the mailings.

  1.  The cross-connection survey is underway. 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. Pending

Additional Public Comments or Questions:  No additional public comments or questions were submitted to the Board

Executive session:  Trustee Heern made a motion to open in executive session, regarding a personnel matter, seconded by Trustee Brewer and with a roll call vote of (5) yay votes and (0) nay, opening EX session was approved. Recorded by Trustee Cole. Chairman Hughey gave information. No action taken. Trustee Dickson made a motion to adjourn EX session, seconded by Trustee Brewer and with voice vote of (5) yay votes and (0) nay votes.; approved. Trustee Dickson made a motion to reconvene in open session, seconded by Trustee Heern and with a voice vote of (5) yay votes and (0) nay votes.; approved.Motion for Adjournment:  Trustee Heern made a motion to adjourn, and Trustee Cole seconded the motion. All in favor by voice 5 yays, and no nays, the motion carried to adjourn.

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