Minutes of November 8, 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 Bob Hughey, Vice-Chairman Kimberly Cole, and Trustees Grace Brewer, John Dickson, and Paul Heern. Trustees Pat Brierton and Joseph Burrow were Absent.

Staff and Professionals:                                      Present                                 Absent

Treasurer, Mike Williamsen,                                                                             Absent

District Secretary Mike Twomey,                        Present

Legal Counsel Mike Twomey,                             Present

Engineer Joe Boyke,                                            Present                                             

Staff:  PT Water Operator Kenny Cowan,                                                         Absent

FT Water operator Alex Heidbreder,        Present

Office Manager, Sage Lintner,                  Present

PT Sherry Cowan, Office staff                                                                   Absent

Contract Water Operator Bill Dailey                                                         Absent

Visitors present: 

Ms. Susan Beattie, BPWD Customer

Mr. Anthony Henson, Jackson County Resource and Coordination Officer

Approval of Minutes:  Trustee Dickson made a motion to accept the minutes of October 11, 2022, seconded by Vice-Chair Cole and with a voice vote of (5) yay votes and (0) nay votes.; the minutes of 10/11/2022 were approved.

Visitor and Customer Requests: 

1. Susan Beattie, Customer:  Ms. Beattiepresented two (2) complaints to the BPWD Board of Trustees for consideration. She objected to the $50 disconnect/$50 connect fees that were assessed to her account for delinquent payment on the grounds that she was not properly notified. She claims she did not receive the disconnect letter and was not given a courtesy call that has been given for others in the past. She felt that since no water was used, and her bill was only for the minimum administrative account amount it was wrong for her to be disconnected. She also presented a complaint that the agenda is not posted in a public place, such as the post office in Makanda, 48-hours prior to the Board meetings. She stated she is a 42-year BPWD customer and has always paid her bills on time. Once Ms. Beattie concluded her remarks and credit request, Chairman Hughey explained the payment policy, the late fees, disconnection procedures, and the disconnect fees posted on the BPWD website. He further stated that the BPWD Board meeting agenda is posted in the BPWD office 48-hours prior to the Board meetings which follows the Open Meeting Act rules requirement. Following Ms. Beattie’s presentation the Board discussed the facts of her timeline of disconnection for her account, her account payment history, the dates that the disconnection letters were sent, and the circumstances that exist and as were presented. Each Board member was asked to discuss their views to determine how to best to decide the resolution of Ms. Beattie’s disconnection fee complaint. A motion was presented by Trustee Heern and second by Trustee Brewer with a decision to be given to Ms. Beattie and this vote failed with 2 ayes, 3 nays. Another motion was then made with a different decision by Trustee Heern and second by Trustee Brewer to be given to Ms. Beattie. A vote was taken and with 5 ayes, 0 nays, this motion passed. A letter will be drafted by BPWD legal counsel and sent to Ms. Beattie as soon as possible to let her know the resolution decision that was hereby reached.

Actions taken by the Board following this disconnection presentation:

1. Ms. Lintner was asked to purchase a large red warning stamp to be prominently stamped onto the disconnect letter to better alert customers of pending disconnection action for no payment having been received at the BPWD office by the due date.
2. The Board requested that Ms. Lintner modify the disconnection operational practices in the BPWD office to make every effort possible to include one attempt for a courtesy call for a pending disconnection to the customer. If the customer’s voicemail is available, the pending action will be left. The one (1) attempt will be documented, and no further attempts will be made for all situations such as the line twice continually busy, no answer, no phone service, or no phone or wrong phone on file. Ms. Sherry Cowan will assist Ms. Lintner with the calls and documenting the actions taken.
3. The Board acknowledges that there are no after-hours water reconnection services routinely available. On a case-by-case and with full payment and on an additional fee basis, an emergency reconnection may be requested. Hours for reconnection are conducted the next business day between 7:00am to 3:00pm once cash or money order payment in-full has been received. Disconnections will not be conducted on the day prior to a holiday or weekend.
4. The Board requested that disconnections ideally occur as early in the day as possible for the BPWD staff, preferably before 12 noon. However, the time may vary and is not formally established.
5. The Board reaffirms that the late-payment/no-payment policy, late fees, and disconnect/reconnect fees remain in place, as written and posted on the website and will be enforced uniformly for all customers of the district.

• Anthony Henson, Jackson County Resource Officer:  Mr. Henson introduced himself as a new resource coordinator and officer for Jackson County and presented the role and benefits that he can coordinate for water districts such as funding opportunities and technical assistance with grant writing, setting up a sam.gov account and other benefits. He gave business cards to the staff and Board members.

Communications for November 2022: 

1. EEOC charge:  Ms. Dunn filed discrimination charges against BPWD for age, sex, retaliation. There is no basis for these charges. Appropriate legal counsel has been obtained and a position statement has been submitted by the deadline in the correspondence.

• IDES hearing for Ms. Dunn unemployment appeal was not held due to IDES not calling in to the hearing at 2:00 pm was set. This hearing resulted in a denial of the hearing due to a technical matter with the fax failure of a time-sensitive form and whereby the form was not received by IDES within the ten (10) day deadline. The matter has now been closed. The IDES has notified BPWD that Ms. Dunn will receive 26-weeks of unemployment payments (March to September 2022). The district is subject to an increase in unemployment insurance rates by the State of Illinois in the future for a period of time. The increase is TBD.

• Engineer report:  Joe Boyke reported he was working on location ideas for future leak detection vaults in the yellow area to help with the water loss resolution.

New business: 

1. Easements:  A questions came up in the IEPA training class where Office manager and Operator Heidbreder are attending and ask for an explanation/clarification. Legal counsel Twomey explained the issue to staff and the Board, and no action was taken. RESOLVED

• Credit Bureau contract: Office manager Lintner reported she is reviewing two (2) agencies contracts and will decide, in coordination with our legal counsel recommendation, which to sign with.  Update will be given in December 2022.PENDING

• Sexual harassment prevention training 2022 (annual) and Open meetings Act training (once):  Office manager Lintner passed out the information and websites to access both trainings. They are to be completed by December 31, 2022, and sheets signed and returned. PENDING

• Employee handbook updates:  Vice-Chair Cole will send the handbook and suggested updates to staff and the Board for input into revision of the handbook if needed. PENDING

• Trustee Joseph Burrow resignation and recognition of service:  The Board has received the resignation letter from Trustee Burrow. Everyone expressed thanks to him for his long-time service to the BPWD Board and staff. He will be missed and best wishes were sent to him and Lucille with this resignation. RESOLVED

• Alternative Board meeting day of the month:  The Board discussed changing the regular meetings to another day in the 2^nd week, or another day in another week. One officer could make a change if it were necessary, but it was not convenient. It was decided to table this item until it could be further researched with all Board members and officers. PENDING

• BPWD Insurance coverage:  Trustee Heern reported that three (3) proposals were received, and he provided all in the Board packet. There was Board discussion and review. Trustee Heern made the motion to stay with ICMRT and was second by Trustee Brewer. The roll call vote was 5 ayes and 0 nays, and the motion passed to retain ICMRT as our insurance carrier. RESOLVED

Old business:

1. The ICMRT safety audit was conducted on July 26, 2022, and no report is back yet. Will discuss further in November and Office Manager Lintner will attempt to get a copy of the report. PENDING

• Golf course new customer update: Update November 8-Customer Lance Paszkieqicz paid a deposit. Customer Tim Chrzan refused to pay the delinquent account. A collection agency and credit bureau will be notified for the balance owed of $1514.42. History:  Office manager Lintner has sent customer Tim Chrzan a letter asking for payment. She has set up new accounts for the new owners of the Stone creek Golf course. There is $1500 still owed for water and the previous owner has moved to Indiana. She will try to send letters with bills to him first, then try credit bureau. The house needs a lock on the water meter since no one has called to open an account for it. RESOLVED

• Work Group 1, Ordinance review. No report PENDING

• Work Group 2, Water loss:  Met on 10/28/2022 at 5pm at the district office with Chair Hughey, Treasurer Williamsen, Vice-chair Cole, Office Manager Lintner, and Water operator Heidbreder. All tasks were reviewed, assigned, or reassigned. Substantial progress being made. Route 3 has an active leak that will be a priority now with 68% loss on last meter reading. The group will meet on December 6, 2022, at 5pm. PENDING

• Strategic plan Five (5) Year: As of November 8,Vice-chair Cole has presented a draft to Chairman Hughey, and this will be discussed between them after this meeting. From this meeting, it was decided to proceed with a 2^nd draft to be presented to the Board on December 12 for further input from the Board. History from prior Board meetings:  Ideas from all Trustee are 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. She will prepare the draft plan for the November 2022 regular meeting. Input received so far from Trustee Brewer, Dickson, Vice-Chair Cole, and Treasurer Williamsen. PENDING

• Extensive Office Audit by Scott Hickham, As of November 8, there is no report. Half of the audit payment was requested and paid in April. History from prior Board meetings:  Scott Hickham, the BPWD auditor, was requested to perform an intensive audit and this has been underway as requested by the Board in April 2022.  Previously in October, per Treasurer Williamsen reported the final report is pending. Mr. Hickham was scheduled to come to the office to finish the audit the first week of October. PENDING

• The new Accountant firm replacement Amy Parrish will be sent a new engagement letter after October 17, 2022, to revise the duties BPWD needs. November 8 update:  Office manager Lintner plans to meet with Ms. Parrish this week on Friday. PENDING.

• The IEPA Class D course for Office manager Lintner and Maintenance operator Heidbreder is going well and they will take their exams on November 17, 2022. Results will be available three (3) weeks later.  PENDING

1. New meters for leak detectors are ordered for $2557.50. Options for the incorrect Zimmer meters are to offer to sell to another district such as So. Highway, post on IRWA marketplace. The new meters are backordered until February 2023. This item is tabled until the Feb.2023 regular Board meeting PENDING

• Brian Bush invoices: The corrected invoices have been received in the amount of approximately $19,000.  They have been checked and verified by Operator Heidbreder. The discussion resulted in Office manager Lintner improving her processes by opening work orders in Cambridge to keep track of projects for the 6 months of work requested and will review all the work with the Board by line items. RESOLVED

• Meter hardware plan to open and look at each meter update: No report available November 8. Prior history:  report given by Water Operator Heidbreder. Three hundred six (306) meters have been done so far and he is making this a priority. Office manager Lintner is developing a spreadsheet for the plan. Chad needs to come in to do some training on meters with new staff. Bob agreed to assist to locate some of the meters that cannot be found. PENDING

• Revised proposed ordinance revision for requiring deposits. The Board reviewed the proposed ordinance wording and changed the word “he†to “applicant or they† A motion to approve the ordinance #100 with this wording change was made by Trustee Brewer and second by Trustee Heern. The motion passed with 5 ayes and 0 nays, and the Ordinance was adopted. The wording will include $200 for renters, $100 for residentials, and $500 for commercial customers per meter. RESOLVED

• Lead sample site plan update and Lead service line inventory:

1. The Lead (pb) sample site plan review and update was required to be completed and submitted to the IEPA by October 31, 2022, and ROINC Cole obtained an extension from IEPA to December 31, 2022. She requested that the work be completed by December 17, 2022, to comply with the new deadline.  She has prepared a spreadsheet of the current site plan developed in 1991 and added all the the new required information about each site. The sheet was given to Office Manager Lintner and Water Operator Heidbreder with instructions to complete. Each site needs extensive information verified about the line materials 1. in the building, 2.  on the customer side of the meter, and 3.  On the BPWD side of the meter. This will require Office manager Lintner to send out homeowner questionnaires to request the year the building was built, whether a water softener is installed in-line, to update of the names, and obtain the 911 address. A visual inspection of the lines at these three (3) services lines locations is needed. PENDING
2. The Lead (pb) service line inventory EPA and IEPA regulatory rule is due in three (3) phases due for 2022, 2023, and the final report due in April 2024. This rule is required for every water district in the USA. There is no digging required but the inventory requirement is to determine the service line materials throughout the district following the EPA guidance document and template guidance available from IEPA. One strategy that is being reviewed involves inspecting each of the meter pits to determine the line material used on either side of the meter. There are other strategies under review. The project at BPWD is in the preliminary phases and on track. Grant funding opportunities are being sought to give additional resources to accomplish this requirement. PENDING

• IT support, new printer, and computers: Office manager Lintner reported that parts for the printer are backordered. She will put this in her report for December and continue to update the Board on this. History:  Nothing new to report in October. Previously Office manager Lintner reported that Mr. Terrance Walsh has installed a loaner printer until ours arrives, and she is pleased with the work so far on the computers. New laptop and new desktop have been installed. Scada computer will not be replaced at this time. AGENDA ITEM MOVED TO OFFICE MANAGER REPORT FOR FURTHER UPDATES

• Brochure and Water loss credit statement wording:  Board discussion of this topic resulted in a change of BPWD policy for water loss credits. Trustee Heern made a motion to adopt the changes below listed 1-5 for the BPWD water loss credit policy, second by Trustee Brewer and a voice vote resulted in 5 ayes 0 nays. The motion and changes of policy was approved. The need and content for a brochure will be revisited by Office manager Lintner with the following changes. The water loss credit policy will now be processed by the following details: 

1.The customer must present their case to the Board during a regular meeting and formally request the credit.

2. The Board will consider credits on a case-by-case basis only,

3. All credit requests will only be heard if a receipt for a repair of a technical water leak situation is provided at the Board meeting.

4. Credit will be considered one time per year per customer.

5. If approved by the Board of Trustees for the water loss credit will be calculated at the wholesale price of the water. RESOLVED

• WD Automation:  Chairman Hughey reported that he will call Tim and report back in December. History:  Office manager Lintner reported that Tim is following up on PS 1 and Chair Hughey wants to get a report on this by Friday, October 14, 2022. Previously it was noted that BPWD will partner with Tim at WD automation for the SCADA system. He is currently working on a fan and software update for PS1. We need to have yellow area discussion with Tim PENDING

• GPS mapping: There is no report or update for the November 8 meeting. History:  Water Operator Heidbreder reported that he is waiting on his brother to bring him a gps unit that he can borrow from the Forest Service. Office manager Lintner will also get with Curt Mezo to look at his gps mapping system that he uses for Murdale Water District. Previously a proposal from IRWA was provided for $6,638.90. The accuracy is excellent per feet. Another alternative to the contracted mapping is to purchase a handheld gps unity with accuracy 3-6 ft. and map ourselves. Alex to get prices for a gps unit. Roger Noe is coming on 9/22/2022 to try his PVC trench locator. Alex and Sage to put together trouble spots and let Roger try his locator. Decision on the mapping versus gps unit purchase is tabled for discussion until November and December regular meeting. PENDING

• Investments:  Chairman Hughey updated the Board on options and will continue to update. No action taken. History:  October-No update:  Treasurer Williamsen is absent to give further updates on this agenda item and tabled to the November 2022 meeting. Previously, Treasurer Williamsen reported that he is researching Charles Schwab options for a 6 month treasury note with yield of 203%. Money market accounts 2-4%. BPWD could look at these types of investments for $100,000. More research is being done. The balances are O/M account $8568.68, Fund $80975.83, Reserve $264,000. Trustee Heern suggested that he would like to invest $100,000 and the Board would like Treasurer Williamsen to pursue research on this amount of investment. Treasurer Williamsen will be in contact with John Dickson and Pat and Scott Hickham. PENDING

• Cross connection survey and program:  ROINC Cole reported that she has partnered with Absolute Plumbing to give her some guidance on the BPWD program for backflow prevention. Before proceeding on requirements of customer’s plumbing on findings found in the customer’s surveys the program will be completed. Work is progressing on this, and update will be given in January 2023. History:  ROINC Cole reported that she is working on the BPWD program with A&W Plumbing and a second letter to go out to all the customers with wells, lawn irrigation, fire protection and other potential cross connection concerns. Previously it was noted that we still have seven customers to get the survey and Office manager is attempting to get them. Office manager Lintner and ROINC Cole are working to get a program in place to act on any surveys that need further attention, or a backflow prevention device. PENDING

• Rate increase for water:  Chairman Hughey reported that Office Manager Lintner and Treasurer Williamsen are finalizing a proposed budget for Board approval for 2023 and this document will help with the recommendation on water rates for next year. There are several cost increases that were discussed:  Operating costs, infrastructure costs, and water losses. Office manager Lintner will send out worksheets for review. This will be put on the agenda for December 2022. PENDING

• State of Illinois Comptroller 2021 financial report:  Office manager Lintner reported that this was filed. RESOLVED

• Board payment potential increases ($75.00 for Trustees, and $100 for Officers) in 2023 budget was discussed among the Board and the issue is tabled to the December 2022 regular meeting, and if can be put into the 2023 budget. PENDING

Carbondale Water District:  Nothing new to report

Office manager report:

1. Meter issues and water loss on Rt 3 discussed:  Office manager Lintner explained that she found 3 old meters that were not being read or billed for 3 months to 3 years.  Everything has been corrected and all new hardware installed at these locations.  She is looking into the root cause of this problem and actively looking for others that would affect our water loss calculations.
2. Several water losses at customer’s homes
3. A&E “as built†plans can be obtained: $400
4. Proposed asking for clearing meter lids or bill for $15 cleaning fee
5. W-9 for all staff ex. Operator Dailey
6. Meeting with Amy Parrish 11/11/22
7. Sam.gov unable to access due to 2^nd verification Ms. Dunn set up on personal phone.  Reported it must be completely reset up and work is progressing on it.

Maintenance water Operator Heidbreder report:

1. 15 Julies
2. 22 Work orders
3. 3 Boil orders
4. 63 valves in valve book under study. 10 are buried and 15 cannot locate
5. 3 big leaks found and repaired

Accounting and Financial reports, September, and October 2022: Chairman Hughey reviewed the September and October 2022 accounting and financial reports with the Board.

Payment of the bills and approval of September 2022 disbursements:  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:  No report

ROINC Kimberly Cole report:

ROINC Cole provided a routine activity report for the month of October 2022 with all duties performed. The IEPA Operational report was submitted.

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. 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

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

Executive session: None Motion for Adjournment:  Trustee Brewer made a motion to adjourn, and Trustee Heern seconded the motion. All in favor by voice 5 ayes, and 0 nays, the motion carried to adjourn.