Meeting Minutes of January 13, 2009
Chairman Starling called the meeting to order at 7:00pm. A roll call was taken and present were: Chairman Mike Starling, Vice Chairman Joseph Burrow, Water Supply Operator Ron Lada, District Secretary Karen Dunn, Trustees Wally Earll, Tammy Davis, Debbie Wheetley, Steve Williams, and Jenny Jaros. Absent was Secretary/Treasurer Mike Williamsen.
A visitor in attendance was Mr. Praveen Sunny, PE, Asaturian Eaton and Associates.
The meeting began by reviewing the minutes of both the December 9, 2008, regular meeting and the December 19, 2008, Special Meeting. Mr. Williams indicated a correction to the minutes of the December 19th Special Meeting in which during a motion to accept the 2009 budget, the accurate vote count should have been 4 yes and 1 no votes. A motion was made by Mrs. Jaros to amend the December 19th minutes with the correction indicated and accepted the minutes of both meetings. Seconded by Vice Chairman Burrow and with 6 yes and 0 no votes, the minutes were approved.
Under the order of visitor or customer requests, agreements to cut off water service for customers of Meter #87600 and Meter #09120 were presented. With no objection from Members of the Board, the agreements were accepted for signature by the Chairman.
The first item of communication presented was a letter from Mr. Don Pippins of the Stone Creek Golf Course. The letter was reviewed by the Board Members with no action taken.
A letter from the Curran Gardner Townships Public Water District was presented indicating interest in policy related to “abandoned meters”. The Board briefly discussed similar BPWD policy and instructed the District Secretary to respond with the courtesy letter as time allowed.
The Kemper CPA Group, through correspondence, requested an update to the Depreciation Short Report for 2008 tax preparation. After discussion, the Board advised the District Secretary to supply Kemper with the total costs related to 2008 new meter installations to be included in the report.
Related to cost analysis and grant feasibility for repair/replacement to the water main located in downtown Makanda on the hill behind the Post Office. Mr. Sunny explained options such as construction grants and low interest EPA Loans. He indicated that EPA loans for a 20-year term have an APR of 3%. Discussion continued regarding design costs and EPA requirements such as an income survey. Mr. Sunny agreed to supply the District Secretary with instructions and documentation required to complete the project.
Next under the order of old business, was to readdress the elimination of Board Member compensation. After considerable discussion, a motion was made by Mr. Earll to reinstate the Chair fees in the amount of $50.00 per meeting for both the Chairman and Vice Chairman, and $35.00 per meeting for each Trustee. Seconded by Vice Chairman Burrow and with 6 yes and 0 no votes, the motion carried.
No new business was presented at this time.
Brief discussion followed the presentation and review of the December 18, 2008, billing for water purchased from the South Highway Water District with no related action.
A letter from Reed, Heller, Mansfield & Gross, legal representation for the SHWD related to the 2008 Rate Increase Dispute was presented for review. Mr. Starling indicated the correspondence to be somewhat vague and had the appearance of a bluff. He indicated he and Mr. Williamsen intend to meet with Mr. Stephen Green, BPWD Attorney assigned to this matter, to continue pursuing the legal issue.
The financials for November 2008 were presented for review with no related discussion.
The Secretary/Treasurer Report and the Accounts Payable Report were presented by the District Secretary in the absence of the Secretary/Treasurer. A motion was made by Mrs. Wheetley to accept the Secretary/Treasurer Report as presented to pay the bills. Seconded by Mrs. Davis and with 6 yes and 0 no votes, the motion carried.
The Water Supply Operator Report was presented by Ron Lada with no major discrepancies. Mr. Lada indicated recent freezing temperatures resulted in tower overflows impacting water loss. He noted that due one such incident, the entire District was on a Boil Order due to low pressure.
No additional public comments or questions.
There was no move for an executive session.
There being no further business, a motion was made by Vice Chairman Burrow at 8:24pm to adjourn, a voice count was taken and with 6 yes and 0 no votes, the meeting adjourned.