Meeting Minutes 3-9-2015
MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING
OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES
HOLIDAY SHORES SANITARY DISTRICT
Monday, March 9, 2015
The Board of Trustees of the Holiday Shores Sanitary District met on the above date in regular session pursuant to laws and rules of said Board of Trustees and in accordance with the terms of the notice of regular meeting.
Richard Hayes, President called the meeting to order. Trustees present were Jeff Sedlacek and Dennis Van Sandt. Also present were Carla Lankster, District Clerk, and Ken Dulle and Kevin Dulle of Du-Con. Also present were Attorney for the District, Bob Perica and Josh Severit of Reed Armstrong.
OPEN FORUM
Mr. Tim Bennett of 11 Shore Drive SW was listed on the agenda, but was not present.
Mr. Rich Hertel and Mr. Roger Rawson, of the Holishor Association Board were present to discuss the possibility of Holiday Shores Sanitary District adding Trash Pick-up to the monthly billing. The Holishor Association will be negotiating a new contract with Republic Services due July 31, 2015, and they were inquiring why the city of Edwardsville pays a lot less than Holiday Shores, and it includes the yard-waste pick-up. The average cost for cities such as Edwardsville, Bethalto and Wood River is $15.00 per month, which includes trash, recycle and yard waste. Holiday Shores pays $37.45 per month for those services, if they choose to have yard waste pick-up. Republic Services is responsible for the quarterly billing and these other cities bill it on their water and sewer bill. Even though there are 1160 homes, Republic only bills an average of 957 homes in Holiday Shores, because some residents share trash pick-up services to lower their personal cost. Also included in the monthly bill is Bulk pick-up, which very few people use.
Republic Services bills on a delayed basis for cities. They bill for what was collected the prior month. If they negotiate yard waste, it would add about $3.00 per month, which would still be a lot less than the amount that the Holiday Shores residents are paying just for the trash and recycle. Holishor Association does not bill monthly, but the Sanitary District does, and if the customers don’t pay, the District can shut off the water. The HSSD concern of this is two-fold. Mr. Rich Hayes brought up the concern of The District entering into a new business, which we do not want to do. The second concern is a legal issue whether or not a Sanitary District could enter into a Trash service. Mr. Hertel asked how do the other cities bill for the service, and Mr. Ken Dulle responded that they are municipalities, and HSSD is a Sanitary District, governed by the Sanitary District Act of 1936, which includes only Sewer and Water. Therefore it is unlikely that the District would be able to do the trash pick-up billing.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of February 9, 2015 regular meeting were submitted for approval. Mr. Van Sandt made a motion to approve the minutes for the February 9, 2015 regular meeting. Mr. Sedlacek seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
FINANCIAL
The Summary of Accounts was reviewed for the month of February, 2015. There was one new connection fee paid in February. No motion necessary.
DISBURSEMENTS
After reviewing the disbursements for the month of February, 2015, Mr. Sedlacek made a motion to approve the February 2015 disbursements. Mr. Van Sandt seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
Du-Con submitted Invoice No. 03-5, dated March 5, 2015, for the month of February, 2015 for managing and operating water and wastewater treatment. Mr. Van Sandt motioned to approve Du-Con invoice No. 03-5, dated March 5, 2015. Mr. Sedlacek seconded the motion and all Trustees voted “Aye”.
APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS
The water and sewer applications for February, 2015 were reviewed, and included 7 customer transfers and one new water and sewer connection. Mr. Sedlacek made a motion to approve the February, 2015 applications. Mr. Van Sandt seconded the motion and all the Trustees voted “Aye”.
OTHER
A copy of the notice to be placed in the April Holiday Times was given to the Trustees for information purposes. The notice it to inform all customers of the upcoming meter upgrades.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
There was a continued discussion from last month, on the temporary rate increase to pay for the Radio-Read Water Meter Upgrade. The trustees asked Ms. Lankster and Mr. Dulle to determine if a 2% or 3% annual increase would be enough to keep HSSD from depleting our water reserves while paying the loan for the water plant. This would be instead of the $6.00 per month, temporary increase proposed last month. There will be further discussion at the April meeting.
In addition to a rate increase for water and sewer, there are some miscellaneous, single-instance fees that are in need of increases. The charge to place a lien and release a lien has been at the same amount since 2006 at $40.00 each instance. Madison County has increased their fee several times during that period. It should be raised to at least $50.00. Mr. Hayes feels it should be raised to $75.00 per instance.
Two other fees that have not been increased since 2006 are the fee that is charged for Delinquent Notices being sent out and the Late Penalty fees. This would be in effect for both the residents of Holiday Shores as well as the Sewer-only customers in the Moro area. It was discussed to increase the Notice fee from $2.00 to $5.00 per instance. The late payment penalty has been at 2.50%, and we are considering an increase to 5.0%.
Two fees that would be new to the ordinance are an Administrative Fee and a fee for Door Hangers being placed when a customer has not been in compliance with the District Ordinances. This would not include door hangers placed for things such as boil orders and leaks. It would include short pays on delinquent notices, and District Technicians not being able to access water meters or grinder pumps. The Door Hangers would only be placed if we are unable to contact the customer by phone. These two fees would be $2.00 for the Administrative Fee and $10.00 if a Door Hanger has to be placed.
NEW BUSINESS
MSD Mowing submitted a bid for 2015. We did not go out for bids this year, so the only comment was regarding the old water plant property which has been sold. Mr. Dulle said he already spoke with Mark Franke of MSD Mowing, and he told him we do not need that piece of property mowed this year. The prices remain the same as 2014.
OPERATIONS
The IEPA has an agreement with HSSD to monitor the progress of correcting violations since the THM’s were in violation in September, 2014. The District is continuing to consult with engineers who specialize in water purification to help in the process. Mr. Dulle stated that we are trying everything possible to avoid adding additional chemicals to the water.
Installation of the radio read water meters will begin during the first full week of April 2015.
ADJOURN TO EXECUTIVE SESSION
Mr. Sedlacek made a motion to move to closed Executive session pursuant to Statute 5ILCS 120/2 (C)(11) to discuss litigation. Mr. Van Sandt seconded the motion and all Trustees Voted “Aye”.
ADDITIONAL BUSINESS IN REGULAR SESSION
Back from adjournment of the Executive Session, a motion was made by Mr. Hayes to give Ken Dulle the authority to answer any interrogatories related to the Wilson litigation. Mr. Sedlacek seconded the motion and all trustees voted “Aye”.
Holiday Shores’ resident, Mr. Anthony Harrell came in while the meeting was in progress to ask about the decision for hunting at the lagoon property. He was unsure from the meeting minutes what decision was made. Mr. Hayes clarified that nobody will be allowed to hunt on that property.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr. Sedlacek made a motion to adjourn the regular meeting. Mr. Van Sandt seconded the motion and all the Trustees voted “Aye”.
Respectfully submitted,
Carla Lankster, District Clerk