Meeting Minutes of August 9, 1993

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by Vice Chairman Stanley Hollister. The roll was called. Present were: Trustees Mr. Betts, Mr. Burton, Mr. Hollister, Ms. Hutcheson, Mrs. Williams, and Mrs. Youngblood. Chairman Richard Jumps was absent. Mr. Hollister assumed the position of acting Chairman of the meeting. Employees present were Mr. Ron Lada and Ms. Karol Abrams.

The minutes of the July 12, 1993 regular meeting and the July 21, 1993 emergency meeting were presented for approval. Acting Chairman Hollister asked for any corrections or changes to either set of minutes. Trustee Burton said that he had located a misspelling of the word “because”. Ms. Abrams said that she would locate it and correct it. Trustee Betts made the motion to approve the minutes with the correction of the spelling of “because” . Trustee Burton seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken: Mr. Betts – yes, Mr. Burton -yes. Mr. Hollister – yes, Ms. Hutcheson – yes, Mrs. Williams – yes, Mrs. Youngblood – yes. There being 6 yes votes and 0 no votes the motion carried.

Communication for July 1993:

1. Acting Chairman Hollister read from an Illinois Association of Public Water District’s request for members. Each Board member was provided a copy of the correspondence. General discussion occurred concerning the viability of becoming a charter member. Mr. Hollister announced the organizations first meeting date the amount of dues. The Board of Trustees felt that the representation by the Illinois Rural Water Association was adequate and at this time no action would be taken on joining the Illinois Association of Public Water Districts.
2. Acting Chairman Hollister read from correspondence received from Don Paige concerning the completion of his water line extension and final costs. General discussion occurred concerning his water line extension and acceptance of the extension. Mr. Betts made the motion that the Board of Trustees accept the line extension. Mr. Burton questioned whether we had a complete file and everything we needed. Ms. Abram stated that she had not pulled the file for the meeting. Mr. Betts withdrew his motion pending further review of the complete file at the next board meeting. Any further action on the Don Paige line extension was tabled pending further review.
3. Vice Chairman Hollister passed around an information letter from JULIE concerning their FAX-A-LOCATE program. General discussion occurred concerning JULIE’s poor billing and notifying procedures. The Board recommended a letter be drafted to JULIE saying that we are not going to attend the meeting and that we will felt that their billing methods were inadequate.
4. Vice Chairman Hollister announced the Illinois Potable Water Supply Operator Association in Springfield announcement for membership.
5. Vice Chairman Hollister presented the Board with correspondence from the Southern Illinois Water Operators Association for a program in Salem, Illinois concerning their new Water Treatment Plant.
6. Mr. Hollister discussed and passed around an article in “Tank Talk” concerning water tower recoating. Mr. Burton suggested that we closely look at the charge of spot painting versus total recoating. The board agreed to spend more time on this project as the time to have it done got closer.
7. Vice Chairman Hollister passed around a letter received concerning notary public fees. General discussion occurred and the Board of Trustees was assured that BPWD is following all necessary regulations concerning the notary fees and posting of necessary information. Mr. Hollister stated that our letter that went to the public contained a typographical error and the correction was posted at the office.

Old Business:

1. Ms. Abrams reported that Jack Allen did not pick up his restricted and certified letter after being notified three (3) times by the Post Office. Mrs. Youngblood questioned what the Board’s next step was in this situation. The Board of Trustees has already set a deadline for Mr. Allen to sign the release by the 9/13/93 board meeting, and any action would be taken at that Board meeting pending the deadline of 9/13/93.
2. The Larry Haase lien was discussed. The correct tax parcel number was located. The improper lien could be removed and a new lien filed or the debt could be written off. Trustee Betts said that the property was in a good location. Trustee Burton made the motion that Buncombe Public Water District re-file the lien on the Larry Haase property. Mr. Betts seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken: Mr. Betts – yes, Mr. Burton – yes, Mr. Hollister – yes, Ms. Hutcheson – yes, Mrs. Williams – yes, Mrs. Youngblood – yes. There being 6 yes votes and 0 no votes, the motion carried.. Acting Chairman Hollister instructed Ms. Abrams to prepare the necessary paperwork.
3. Billie Jacobini Line Extension was discussed. Trustees Betts explained that there was a major leak at the site of the necessary line repairs and that Bean Bush helped get repaired. General discussion occurred concerning the repairs to the line extension. Discussion occurred concerning the outstanding balance on the sealed tap account and the water flushing charges. Trustee Betts made a motion that a letter be sent to Mrs. Jacobini stating that the $7.50 monthly charge on the sealed corp stop would be waived, but the water flushing costs should be paid and then the line would be accepted. General discussion occurred the fact that the water flushing costs were around $12.00. Trustees Hollister questioned if it was worth bothering Mrs. Jacobini on a $12.00 charge. Mr. Burton stated that for the record that the repairs were witnessed and the corp stops were shut off and the plastic line completely removed. He stated that although the crop stops were not removed, they were completely cut off. Mr. Betts amended his motion to include waiver of the entire outstanding balance; water flushing and monthly tap fee. Mr. Hollister discussed the need to assure that BPWD would not be liable for any legal fees. Mr. Betts amended his motion to include the waiver of liability for Mrs. Jacobini to sign and upon her signature, the fees would be waived and BPWD would vote on accepting the line extension at the 9/13/93 meeting. Mr. Hollister seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken: Mr. Betts – yes, Mr. Burton – yes, Mr. Hollister – yes, Ms. Hutcheson – yes, Mrs. Williams – yes, Mrs. Youngblood – yes. There being 6 yes votes and 0 no votes, the motion carried. Acting Chairman Hollister instructed Ms. Abrams to draft the letter and he would sign it. The Board of Trustees also instructed Ms. Abrams to send Mr. Bush a letter after the receipt of Mrs. Jacobini’s release form thanking him for his help and informing him of the waiver of charges.

New Business:

1. Tap #66 had a request under a hardship case to help make payments on their overdue account to avoid being cut-off and to keep the account in a current status. Ms. Abrams explained that the customer was requesting to pay a portion of the bill and have the rest of the amount added to their current water bill over a period of time and to avoid additional late charges. General discussion occurred over this. Ms. Abrams felt that it was a legitimate hardship. Trustee Burton brought up the tap #68 that has been shut off for around ten (10) days and the possibility of the same type of deal being offered to this customer. General discussion occurred concerning the matter. The Board of Trustees agreed to offer both customers a payment plan with a downpayment and the rest covered over a six month period of time. Failure to keep the account current would result in immediate cut off.

Secretary/Treasurer Report was read and accepted.

Payment of the bills: The bills were presented in the amount of $7,206.15. Mr. Hollister discussed the writing of checks in between board meetings, and the need for some sort of Board approval or cap on the amount to write. These checks are basically used for necessities that arise in between regularly scheduled board meetings. General discussion occurred concerning this. Mr. Betts and ethe motion that a cap of $500.00 be placed on unapproved expenditures in a one month period authorized by the Chairman or Vice Chairman. Mrs. Youngblood seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken: Mr. Betts – yes, Mr. Burton – yes, Mr. Hollister – yes, Mrs. Williams – yes, Ms. Hutcheson – yes, Mrs. Youngblood – yes. There being 6 yes votes and 0 no votes, the motion carried. The septic tank expenditure was discussed, but because it was already approved, it was agreed that the expenditure could be made necessary. Mrs. Youngblood brought up check # 3535 to Jason Jumps for mowing fees. There was lengthy discussion concerning the propriety of the situation. Ms. Abrams explained that by paying Mr. Lada and having Mr. Lada pay Mr. Jumps, Mr. Lada had to pay the taxes on Mr. Jumps payroll. The Board disagreed with paying Jason Jumps for the job. The Water Supply Operator agreement stated that Mr. Lada could subcontract the mowing, but that it was up to Mr. Lada to handle that. Mr. Betts made the motion to pay the bills, voiding check #3535 and issuing check #3538 to Mr. Lada for the mowing fees. Mr. Burton seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken: Mr. Betts – yes, Mr. Burton – yes, Mr. Hollister – yes, Ms. Hutcheson – yes, Mrs. Williams – yes, Mrs. Youngblood – yes. There being 6 yes and 0 no votes, the motion carried.

The Water Supply Operator Report: Mr. Lada discussed the leak on the Don Paige line extension. Mr. Lada had completed 14 work orders with 15 remaining. There was some discussion about possible tampering with tap #58 and a fire hydrant. Mr. Betts stated that BPWD suspects three (3) incidents of tampering. The bathroom renovation was discussed. Mr. Betts made a motion to authorize the Secretary/Treasurer move funds from the depreciation account to the operating account, if necessary, to cover the septic tank installation. Mr. Burton seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken: Mr. Betts – yes, Mr. Burton – yes, Mr. Hollister – yes, Mrs. Williams – yes, Ms. Hutcheson – yes, Mrs. Youngblood – yes. There being 6 yes and 0 no votes, the motion passes. Mr. Hollister commended Mr. Lada and stated that the Board appreciated Mr. Lada representing BPWD on flood relief efforts with the National Guard. It was also agreed that the stated compensated the National Guard, there would be no additional pay necessary to Mr. Lada from BPWD.

Mr. Betts also discussed the computer situation. Ms. Abrams explained a billing problem with 10% o the total bill needed to be accounted for. The ordinance stated that 10% of the bills is accounted as a late charge. BPWD was losing around $50.00 a month by utilizing the computer system. Late charges will have to be manually done on corrections on the computer. A lengthy discussion occurred concerning updating the computer system. Any further action was tabled pending compilation of more information. Mr. Betts stated that the automatic dialer needed to be hooked into the computer system.

Lead/Copper Testing: Ms. Abrams informed the Board that all of the test sites received a letter about their EPA results. Mr. Hartline received his letter about his copper results being high and he will be removed as a test site and replaced with Mr. Betts.

South Highway Water Dispute: Ms. Abrams supplied each Board member with correspondence from BPWD attorney Sheila Simons concerning arbitration awards. Acting Vice Chairman Hollister informed the Board of a possible hearing scheduled on August 25 at 9:00a at the Jackson County Courthouse. Mr. Hollister stated that date would be verified and the Board informed of the verification. Mr. Betts stated that he would like a meeting with Ms. Simon along with Mr. Hollister prior to the hearing date to discuss the situation and the pending hearing. Ms. Abrams said that she would arrange a meeting when Ms. Simon returned from vacation.

Acting Chairman Hollister thanked Mr. Betts for his work on the BPWD signage that had been put up. The Board also thanked Mr. Betts daughter for the help.

There being no further business to come before the Board of Trustees, a motion to adjourn was made by Ms. Hutcheson. The motion was seconded by Mr. Betts. A voice vote was taken. There being 6 ayes and 0 nays, the motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 9:15pm