Meeting Minutes of September 9, 1991

The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm by Chairman Douglas Mayer. The roll was called. Present were Trustees Ms. Cathie Hutcheson, Mr. Maurice Betts, Mr. Richard Jumps, Mr. Arthur Vincent, Mr. Richard Parrish, and Mr. Douglas Mayer. Employees present were Mrs. Becky Roberts. Mr. Walter Butler was absent.

People attending: Lets Get Rid of Walter Members present were Mr. and Mrs. Danny Williams, Mr. Herbert Stearns, and Mr. Jerry Burton.

Minutes of the August 12, 1991 meeting were submitted for approval. Changes were made on the spelling of “soddar” to “solder” in paragraph 19 in the regular minutes and “add” to “ad” in paragraph 3 in the executive session minutes). Ms. Hutcheson made a motion to accept the minutes as corrected and Mr. Jumps seconded the motion. Roll call vote was taken: Mr. Vincent – yes, Mr. Jumps – yes, Mr. Betts – yes, Ms. Hutcheson – yes, Mr. Parrish – yes, Mr. Mayer – yes. There being 6 yes and 0 no votes, the motion passed.

Customer Requests: Mr. Parrish requested to install a line extension with Chester and Pam Viernum. He has been in contact with Asaturian & Eaton Engineers to start the paperwork. He requested permission from the Board to authorize the Chairman to sign EPA permit forms to start the line extension process. It was noted that SHWD, City of Carbondale, and several others would have to be contacted in writing to obtain approval by them also. Mr. Parrish would be meeting all requirements of the District and EPA. It was discussed that if Mr. Parrish hired Asaturian & Eaton, why would he have to pay for another Engineer that would be representing the District. The reason being the liability of the Chairman and Trustees if the District was not properly represented. Mr. Vincent made a motion to authorize the Chairman to sign the necessary paperwork to get the job started and Mr. Jumps seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken: Mr. Vincent – yes, Mr. Jumps – yes, Mr. Betts – yes, Ms. Hutcheson – yes, Mr. Parrish -abstain, Mr. Mayer – yes. There being 5 yes votes and 1 abstain, motion passes.

Mr. Williams stated that when Mr. Jerry Burton was requesting a water line extension several months ago, that he (Mr. Williams) was turned down by the Board to install this line. He asked if he would be allowed to install future lines. He stated that just because he hade a bad situation with the Board in the past, would he not be reconsidered to do jobs for the individual customers if they wanted to hire him. Mr. Mayer stated that his personal opinion that Mr. William would not be approved to do that work because Mr. Williams had stated that if he was not allowed to do Mr. Burtons work, that he would have the Water District in court for 2 years. Mr. Mayer stated that threatening that Water District will not work to get jobs. Mr. Williams stated that he had had problems with the district on before he had stated that. Mr. Mayer stated he and other Board members had recommended Mr. William to work for the district before this time. Mr. Williams stated that there are new members on the Board now and that he would like another vote on whether or not he could be approved for jobs if recommended by customers or not. Mr. Mayer stated that when the issue comes up in the further when someone wants to hire Mr. Williams, the Board will then take a vote. Mr. Vincent stated that when it does come to a vote, that he would vote for Mr. Williams, and Mr. Betts said he would too.

The Secretary/Treasurer Report was read and accepted. Mr. Betts asked if Attorney had sent the overdue customer a letter and Mr. Mayer stated that they had been, and that he would find out what responses have been received.

The financial report was read and accepted. Mr. Parrish stated that there is over $5,000.00 in both reserve and depreciation accounts not in certificates of deposit. It was decided to wait until next month so Mr. Butler could be consulted on whether there was any anticipated maintenance or repair expenses. Mr. Mayer stated that in the next 2 to 3 years that the water tower will need to be painted again and last time it was around $30,000, and it will be considerably more this time. The pump station is in need of over-haul also.

Payment of the Bills: The bills were presented in the amount of $6,011.07. Mr. Parrish made a motion to pay the bills and Ms. Hutcheson seconded the motion. Mr. Betts asked why are we paying for two meter readers this month? Mr. Mayer explained that for the first month after hiring the new meter reader, the Mr. Butler went with the new man to train him and show him where the meters were. A roll call vote was taken: Mr. Vincent – yes, Mr. Jumps – no, Mr. Betts – no, Ms. Hutcheson – yes, Mr. Parrish – yes, Mr. Mayer – yes. There being 4 yes and 2 no votes, the motion passed.

Water Supply Operator Report: Mr. Butler’s report was reviewed. Mr. Mayer asked Mr. Butler to look at Mr. Eiter’s water line on Church Street again. The Board does not feel that the water customers should have to pay for this repair. Mr. McEvers from the Village Board had agreed to discuss sharing this and a dollar amount, since their maintenance man did the damage. Mr. Butler thinks $500 plus parts would cover the expense.

Lets Grow request for copies of all financial records status: They have not accepted Trustee Youngblood’s offer of January 1991 to assist in the viewing of the financial records: The Board offered to mask names, addresses, tap numbers, and other information identifying customers and this offer has been refused. BPWD Attorney thought that some of the items on that list might not be exempt by FOIA, however, any items containing customer names, tap numbers, or anything pertaining to a specific customer would private and would be exempt. Mr. Burton is now concerned about work orders. All of the customer files would have to be marked unless Lets Grow has permission from the particular customer. Mr. Burton stated that he has filed a suit in Jackson County which BPWD should have gotten today, but it didn’t get done, so in the next few days BPWD should get it. Mr. Burton stated that the only things to do is to go before a judge and see what they say.

Board Member Manuals: Last month the Board decided not to purchase these. Mr. Mayer did not get all of the copies back from the board members so they could be returned. Mr. Betts said that he never took his home because he never got one. Only one is missing. All members will check to see if they have it. (The Board has the financial obligation to pay for them if not returned.)

SHWD v BPWD: Mr. Mayer and Mr. Parrish met with the Attorney to discuss this. Mr. Parrish stated that the Board wished to continue to pursue this, and is seeking SHWD records under FOI Act to verify the figures supplied by SHWD.

Engineer: It was debated whether for a line extension if BPWD needed an engineer as well as the applicant. Mr. Burton interrupted stating that the water district should make the customer responsible for 18 months of repairs for the work done and not make the customer pay for 2 engineering fees.

A hand put was distributed to the board members giving facts about JT Blankenship Engineers having been BPWD’s engineers in the past (except 2 occasions). In emergency situations there would be an advantage of having only one engineer to use. JT Blankenship was recommended because of past experience in showing employees and board members how to do certain things like leak detection methods so there would be no expense to the water district. Also they are the Village of Makanda engineer, thus constituting a savings in coordination on projects requiring such. If more than one engineer would be approved the water district would have to keep both firms updated on changes as they come and cost double the money. It was stated that no information would need to be given to any of them until they were hired for a particular job. Mr. Parrish made a motion to approve both JT Blankenship and Asaturian & Eaton as BPWD’s engineers for the water district work. Mr. Vincent seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken: Mr. Vincent – yes, Mr. Jumps – yes, Mr. Betts – yes, Ms. Hutcheson – yes, Mr. Parrish – yes, Mr. Mayer – yes. There being 6 yes and 0 no vote, the motion passed.

Inventory: this is expected some time this week.

IEPA Lead and Copper sampling sites: No later than October 1, 1991: AN additional expense for more sampling is expected. Mr. Parrish recommended a letter be sent to IEPA informing them that we are adding a space on our Water Service Application in order to collect information on what type of plumbing is in each house, in order to satisfy their requirements. Also inform them that we are installing backflow devices on all new water meters and by 1993, BPWD will have backflow devices on 100% of the meters. Mr. Parrish also recommended to ask IEPA that with 100% of the meters of the meters having backflow devices installed what is the reasoning behind all of this extra testing. Mr. Mayer stated that there will be various meetings held to inform districts on the details and that the WSO and some board members should attend.  Ms. Hutcheson made a motion to authorize and pay the WSO for time spent and 2 board members and the WSO to these meeting held by IEPA and Mr. Jumps seconded the motion. Roll call vote was taken: Mr. Vincent – yes, Mr. Jumps – yes, Mr. Betts – yes, Ms. Hutcheson – yes, Mr. Parrish – yes, Mr. Mayer – yes. There being 6 yes and 0 no votes, the motion passed.

Administrative Assistant: Mr. Mayer stated that it would be to the benefit of the water district to hire an administrative assistant to help with grant money, the budget, and other duties that the Chairman does not have time to do. As of now, presently, the office does not have the capabilities to produce a budget in the form as it was in the past. Don Morgan, CPA, has given an estimate of $500 to produce a budget in the correct form. The district is too small to have a full time operation and it makes it hard on the part time people that are trying to do it now Mr. Walter Brieschke has completed the budget on his own personal compute for the past several years. Mr. Mayer stated that he would like to hire Walt Brieschke as the administrative assistant for $100 a month. First to prepare the budget and then other things as they come up. Mr. Williams interrupted to ask if this would happen, would he be the assistant to the Chairman, and Mr. Mayer stated that no he would no t be, for one thing he would not have a vote on anything. Mr. Williams interrupted again to state that the budget seemed to be a fairly simple process, and Mr. Mayer stated that the budget is more than just allocating money, and as it is now it is a good one and is accurate. Mr. Williams again stated that as a water customer, he would hate to see the district go back into MR. Brieschke running the district again, because of the dealings that he has had in the past. Mr. Vincent stated that with Mr. Brieschke back into the organization it would create problems with the customers present at this meetings. Mr. Mayer stated that the would hate to see that water district slide backwards just because of these few people, and that they would influence what the board would decide. Mr. Betts made a motion not to hire an administrative assistant and Mr. Jumps seconded the motion. Roll call vote was taken: Mr. Vincent – yes, Mr. Jumps – yes, Mr. Betts – yes, Ms. Hutcheson – no, Mr. Parrish – no, Mr. Mayer no. There being 3 yes and 3 no votes, the issue is tabled for future discussion.

Budget: This was discussed in detail on whether to have the trustees prepare this or to hire Don Morgan to prepare this since the format is critical to proper operation. Mr. Parrish stated that the trustees could do it but it is a big process and takes a lot of time and technical expertise. Mr. Betts volunteered to help in any way. Each line has to be gone over and a justification for each line is required. Mr. Betts made a motion to appoint the Chairman, secretary and 2 trustees to prepare a rough draft of the budget before the next board meeting for the Board to approve and Mr. Jumps seconded the motion. Roll call vote was taken: Mr. Vincent – yes, Mr. Jumps – yes, Mr. Betts – yes, Ms. Hutcheson – yes, Mr. Parrish – yes, Mr. Mayer – no. There being 5 yes and 1 no vote, the motion passed. Mr. Parrish volunteered also.

Review of Administrative Fee on New Tap Installations: This was discussed as to what was involved in this. Mrs. Roberts reported that usually 5 to 6 hours would cover the time of setting up a new tap depending on what permits and other things were needed in order to install the tap. Mr. Burton interrupted, to ask how much money would that be. Mrs. Roberts stated that she is not paid any extra salary on this, that her salary is the same whether there are a lot of taps installed in a given month or no taps are installed in that month. Mr. Burton interrupted again to ask where this money goes then? He was old that all money goes into the general fund. It was discussed that a percentage of the total amount for tap installation was not fair because of the difference in dollar amounts. Mr. Parrish made a motion to amend the current ordinance of 20% administrative fee to change to $50.00 fee for administrative fee; and Mr. Betts seconded the motion. Roll call vote was taken: Mr. Vincent – yes, Mr. Jumps – yes, Mr. Betts – yes, Ms. Hutcheson – yes, Mr. Parrish – yes, Mr. Mayer – yes. There being 6 yes votes and 0 no votes, the motion passed.

Audit 1991: We need to be thinking on whether to use the same auditor as we have now or to use a different one.

The monthly meeting adjourned by motion of Ms. Hutcheson and seconded by Mr. Parrish. Voice vote – all yes. Meeting adjourned at 9:16pm