Meeting Minutes of August 10, 1992

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by acting Chairman Richard Jumps. The roll was called. Present were Trustees Mr. Stanley Hollister, Mr. Richard Jumps, Mr. Arthur Vincent, and Mrs. Frances Youngblood. Mr. Maurice Betts and Ms. Cathie Hutcheson were absent. Employees present were Mrs. Becky Roberts and Mr. Ron Lada.

People attending: Lets Get Rid of Walter members present were Mr. and Mrs. Danny Williams, Mr. Jerry Burton, and Mr. Herbert Stearns. Others present were Mr. Phil Brinkman, a reported from the Southern Illinoisan, Mrs. Martha Heern, Mr. John Nannie, and Mr. Don Paige.

Minutes of the July 13, 1992 meeting were submitted for approval. Mr. Hollister had a question on paragraph 7 about whether Mr. Betts motion meant to move the mail box from the Post Office to the building or just have a drop box for customer to drop off payments. Since Mr. Betts was absent, this will be resolved later. Mrs. Youngblood made a motion to accept the minutes as submitted and Mr. Vincent seconded. A roll call vote was taken: Mrs. Youngblood – yes, Mr. Vincent – yes, Mr. Hollister – yes, Mr. Jumps – yes. There being 4 yes votes and 0 no votes, the motion passes. This motion included the emergency meeting minutes that was held on July 17, 1992. Mrs. Youngblood asked Mr. Jumps about why the public was not notified of the emergency meeting 24 hours in advance. Mr. Jumps stated that this meeting was an emergency meeting to hire a WSO and someone to do the water testing to keep in compliance with IEPA. Mr. Jumps also stated that for a special meeting, and for an emergency meeting, public notice does not need to be done.

Communications for July 1992:

1. A letter from the State of Illinois Comptroller was received stating that the 1991 Audit and the 1991 Annual Report was received and that BPWD has met their requirements for 1991.
2. A letter was received from Barbara Schwartz formalizing her offer of last month’s meeting.
3. A letter of resignation from Eugenia Hunter stating that since the motion was made last month to open all the records, that she could no longer work for the district as attorney.
4. A proposal from Sheila Simons about becoming BPWD attorney, which would include no annual retainer and she would work for the district for $80.00 per hour.
5. A fact sheet from Illinois Rural Water Association asking to send letters to Congressmen in support for bill 2900 for the IRWA to be able to complete a study before any more requirements on testing would be made.

Customer Requests: Mr. Don Paige addressed the Board on his proposed water line extensions. BPWD is in receipt of approval from the City of Carbondale and FmHA for this line extension. He has written to the Mayor of Makanda for the necessary right of ways that will be needed and that the Village of Makanda will be sending a letter approving the line extension for Oak Grove Road. He also has ten signed taps whether the district would install them separate or to have them installed while the line extension is installed. This was discussed and it was decided that Mr. Paige will have the ten taps installed during the line extension installation and there will be no tap fee required. Mr. Paige said that the engineering should be done within the week and the EPA permit will be sent in. He has turned the moving of the water main over to the Village of Makanda to deal with.

Customer Requests: Mrs. Billie Jacobini was not present, but her line extension is in service.

Secretary/Treasurer Report was read and accepted. Water loss reflects the break that Dongola Electric caused on Sheppard Lane.

The financial report was read and accepted. The Certificate of Deposits for Depreciation 2 and Reserve 2 matured on 7/24/92 and 7/19/92. These were to be placed in the savings accounts at SIU Credit Union. In the process of changing these, Mr. Jumps decided to put these in a savings account at Home Federal. The Escrow Account Certificate of Deposit will mature on 8/14/92. Mrs. Youngblood made a motion to roll the Escrow Account for another 6 months at Home Federal and Mr. Hollister seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken: Mrs. Youngblood – yes,  Mr. Vincent – yes, Mr. Hollister – yes, Mr. Jumps – yes. There being 4 yes votes, the motion passes.

Water Supply Operator Report: Mr. Ron Lada was hired at the emergency meeting to take over the WSO duties until a committee could have time to hire a permanent WSO. Mr. Lada reported that on 7/28/92 he repaired a leak at tap #195A where the pressure valve was leaking, and on 7/29/92, he repaired the main that was cut by Dongola Electric on Sheppard Lane. He will find out how to figure the water loss on that at a later date. Mr. Jumps stated that Mr. Mike Huskey was hired at the emergency meeting to do the water testing for $200 a month, which the Board discussed was quite expensive. Mr. Hollister made a motion for the District to contact Mr. Mike Coleman to see if he would be interested in doing water testing again and Mrs. Youngblood seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken: Mrs. Youngblood – yes, Mr. Vincent – yes, Mr. Hollister – yes, Mr. Jumps – yes. There being 4 yes and 0 no votes, the motion passes.

SHWD v BPWD Dispute: This is at a standstill. Since Mr. Brieschke has been hired directly by Eugenia Hunter, he has turned in all of the files on this to Mrs. Roberts.

Lets GROW request for copies of all financial records status: Mr. Jumps stated that on 7/24/92 Brocton Lockwood’s office called Mrs. Roberts and asked that she poll the Board to see if there was any objections to Mr. Burton dismissing the case against the Distirc.t This was done with the following results: Mr. Jumps – no objection, Mr. Betts – no objection, Mr. Hollister – no objection, Mr. Vincent – out of town, Mrs. Youngblood – yes she objects, Ms. Hutcheson –  yes she objects. Mr. Lockwood’s office was called back and told that there were 3 no objections, 1 out of town, and 2 objections. No further communications were received to date. Mr. Burton handed Mr. Jumps a letter form his attorney Scott Hendricks so that it could be resolved before the next court date of September 9, 1992. Mrs. Youngblood asked Mr. Burton why he decided to dismiss the case. Mr. Burton replied that when the Board voted to open all the records, including all customer records, that he has no reason for lawsuit. Mr. Jumps stated that there is a list of records that are open to the public, and Mrs. Youngblood asked Mr. Burton if he intended to view the customer records also and he stated yes. Mrs. Youngblood stated that the judge said that the customer records could be viewed only if they were masked, but that because a majority of the Board voted to open them anyway, that Mr. Burton was willing to drop the suit and Mr. Burton said yes.

Mrs. Youngblood stated that because of the motion last month, a new attorney should be hired. Mrs. Youngblood made a motion to contact Sheila Simon to retain her on an hourly basis as needed, and Mr. Hollister seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken: Mrs. Youngblood – yes, Mr. Vincent – yes, Mr. Hollister – yes, Mr. Jumps – yes. There being 4 yes and 0 no votes, the motion passes. Mr. Jumps will contact her to see if she will agree to work on an hourly basis.

Committee to select a WSO: Mrs. Youngblood and Mr. Hollister volunteered for the committee. Mrs. Roberts has all of the resumes that have been received and will forward them to the committee. The committee will review the resumes and interview some of them and make a recommendation at the next board meeting.

Vacancy in Chairman and Vice Chairman: Mr. Hollister nominated Mr. Jumps for Chairman and Mrs. Youngblood seconded the motion. A voice vote was taken with all in favor. It was stated that since 2 of the Board members were absent, that the vacancy for Vice Chairman could be taken care of next month.

The Senate Bill 2900 was discussed again with no action taken.

JULIE: We are still in receipt of bills from JULIE for calls that are outside of our district boundaries, and they have been asked to rebill with only the ones within the BPWD boundaries, but they are still sending the total bills anyway. To date, they have sent out bills in the amount of $63.04, $43.34, and $78.80, which nothing has been paid because they will not take off the ones that are not within the district. The Board still agrees to pay only the ones within BPWD. This will need to be turned over to the new attorney to research.

Union County Board will be notified of the vacancy on the Board so they can appoint another Board member.

The monthly meeting adjourned by motion of Mrs. Youngblood and seconded by Mr. Jumps. Voice vote – all yes. Meeting adjourned at 8:09 pm.