CALL MEETING TO ORDER / REPORT OF MEETING NOTICE PROVIDED
Lakeland Regional Sewer District (LRSD) Board of Trustees met at the District’s Administration Office, 5002 East 100 North, Warsaw, Indiana. The monthly general meeting date and time were posted and advertised as required and was called to order at 6:00 PM by Jim Haney.
Present: Mike DeWald, Joe Cleland, Mark Koehler, Jack Bonewits
Cullen Reece and Rosa Ritchie arrived 6:04 PM
Absent: Jim Haney
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
None
APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES
A draft of the June 19, 2024 Public Hearing Minutes was submitted to all Board members via email on June 24, 2024. The final version was posted on Boardable.
Motion to approve by Mike DeWald with second by Joe Cleland.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 4 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
A draft of the June 19, 2024 Regular Meeting Minutes was submitted to all Board members via email on June 24, 2024. The final version was posted on Boardable.
Motion to approve by Joe Cleland with second by Jack Bonewits.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 4 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
TREASURER’S REPORT AND OTHER FINANCIAL MATTERS
Mike Dewald overviewed the Cash and Funds Balance Matrix – June 30, 2024 denoting the funds grand total of $2,509,093.
Mike DeWald overviewed the Management Cash Budget of January 1, 2024 through June 30, 2024.
The following financial reports prepared by O. W. Krohn & Associates were presented by Mike DeWald: Unaudited Schedule of Cash Receipts and Disbursements; Monthly Analysis of Funds Balances; and Monthly Analysis of Cash and Investment Accounts.
Motion by Joe Cleland to approve the June Krohn financial reports with second by Mark Koehler.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 6 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
The Monthly Claims Approval form of July 2024 was reviewed by Lichelle Parker.
Motion by Joe Cleland approve the payment of monthly claims grand total of $91,423.11 with second by Cullen Reece.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 6 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
Board members affixed their signature approval to the Monthly Claim Approval Form.
DISPUTE OF DAMAGE CHARGES – 201 EMS B1
Joe Cleland reviewed the history and charges assessed to the property owners of 201 EMS B1 to replace their damaged control panel. The damage was noted by Astbury personnel during the disconnect inspection on November 10, 2023. Mrs. Plumer stated they did not know how the damage occurred and asked to split the damage cost with the District. Mrs. Plumer indicated that is close to the road and they cannot put up anything to protect it because of the easement, but they have installed a ring camera to be able to account for any future damage.
Motion by Jack Bonewits to split the damage costs with the Plumer’s; second by Rosa Ritchie.
Mike DeWald proposed rescinding the charges in full.
Jack Bonewits amended his motion to rescind the charges in full; with second by Rosa Ritchie.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 6 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
REQUEST FOR ACCOUNT CREDIT FOR PLUMBER’S FEE – 36 EMS B42D
Property owner of 36 EMS B42D, Mike Farley, provided a written statement to the District with a request for an account credit of $660, the amount he paid for a plumber’s fee on June 29, 2024. The root cause of the problem was due to a failure of Astbury personnel to turn the power on after providing service to the grinder station. Astbury offered to reimburse the District if they reimbursed the property owner.
Motion by Joe Cleland to credit Mr. Farley’s sewer account $660 for the incident on June 29, 2024; second by Jack Bonewits.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 6 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
ASTBURY MONTHLY REPORT
PUMP/PANEL INVENTORY, CUSTOMER PROTOCOL REMINDER
The LRSD Treatment System Operations Treatment System Operations Report of July 11, 2024 was emailed to Board members by Astbury Water Technology, Inc. Thomas Astbury reviewed key aspects of the report and provided clarifications to Board members’ inquiries.
Mike DeWald questioned the maintenance items being purchased from local vendors such as Harbor Freight that included sales tax. Tom clarified that the District is not paying for the sales tax on those invoices – only the pre-tax amount is included in Astbury’s service fee.
Joe Cleland asked Astbury if there were any concerns about any of the inventory levels.
- Josh stated that the minimum on-hand quantity of new pumps could probably be lowered to 15-20. It is currently at 30 because the lead time used to be 6 months, however, it is now approximately 6 weeks. The District also has the rebuilt pumps available to use. Tom suggested reviewing again towards the end of the 3rd quarter.
- Jim Haney questioned in last month’s meeting about the three (3) internal capacitor pumps which are in inventory. Josh clarified that there are three (3) stations in the system that were converted to and have this type of pump installed. Since the last meeting, one of those pumps failed and one from inventory was used to replace. Josh suggested keeping the remaining two (2) in inventory to use at these stations as needed and then switch the stations back over (to pumps without capacitors) after they are used.
- In last month’s meeting, Jim also noticed that one of the Kester’s rebuilt pumps had failed and questioned how long it had lasted. Josh stated that it had lasted 364 days. There were a couple issues when they first started using the rebuilt pumps, but nothing of concern since then.
Astbury has provided two different quotes to replace the PLC and controller for the Influent fine screen. They recommended proceeding with the second quote utilizing JWC (for parts) and CR Environmental (for installation). This avenue would cost approximately $2000 less than utilizing the first quote from Eberle.
Motion by Joe Cleland to approve Astbury to contract JWC for the parts for $3481.58 plus shipping; second by Jack Bonewits.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 6 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
Motion by Joe Cleland to approve Astbury to contract CR Environmental for the installation for $2500; second by Rosa Ritchie.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 6 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
Josh inspected a reconnection this week that he was not comfortable approving until speaking with the Board and DLZ. The contractor utilized the existing lines and plumbing, however, the cleanout is directly in front of the front door and as been laid on its side instead of perpendicular to the lateral. Josh could not find anything in the building standards to specify that it should be perpendicular to the lateral. Casey indicated that the spec drawings show it perpendicular but he will review the code and standards.
Josh questioned if something additional should be done with customer’s grinder stations who receive warning letters about grease. Most of the time, the excessive grease interrupts the proper operations of the floats. During the service call, the floats are cleaned but the station is not cleaned and the grease is not removed. If the station has additional problems, what is to determine if it is from new grease or existing grease. Joe stated that in last month’s meeting Dan Fox indicated that the enzymes will eat a certain amount of grease within the station over a period of time. The District does not want to pump out the grease with the vac truck because we have nowhere to dispose of it, and it would not be cost effective to call a vendor like Weed or Tenney each time. It was determined to continue to monitor and address specific repeat issues or concerns as they are encountered.
INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR COMMITTEE
Nothing to report.
ENGINEERING UPDATE
Casey Erwin (DLZ), Lichelle Parker, Josh Koontz, and Andy Boxberger (Carson LLP) are continuing to meet periodically to discuss changes to the District’s permit application. Casey provided a revised copy of the New Service Connection permit for the board and reviewed the proposed changes.
Motion by Joe Cleland to approve the revised New Service Connection permit as written; second by Mark Koehler.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 6 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
Astbury has had difficulty locating a curb stop at 9 EMS B40D and it was requested from DLZ to see if there were any pictures or information from the construction to help clarify where it is. Casey has not found anything yet, but will continue looking.
PURCHASING UPDATE
There are currently two open purchase orders: Kesters (pump repair) and Gasvoda (tree floats). The tree floats were received today, so should be invoiced soon.
DAMAGE CHARGES – 4288 N SULLIVAN
Property owner called on 6/22/2024 to report damage from a prowler the night before. Astbury personnel found the lock broken off the control panel and the clasp broken. The control panel needed to be replaced because of the potential for water damage since the panel could no longer be properly sealed and locked. There was no police report filed. As per standard procedure, the property owner will be billed for the cost to repair the damage.
LAKELIFE GREASE SAMPLE RESULTS 07/08/2024
The grease sample taken from LakeLife on 7/8/2024 was more than double the allowable limit. LakeLife had ongoing issues last summer that, to the Board’s knowledge, have not been corrected or addressed.
Motion by Cullen Reece to fine LakeLife $500 for the Use Ordinance Violation on July 8, 2024, and for Andy (Carson LLP) to write a letter notifying LakeLife that they will be fined for each additional violation going forward, up to $2500 per incident; second by Jack Bonewits.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 5 Yeas; 0 Nays; 1 Abstain
PROPERTY OWNER CONNECTION STATUS
Lichelle Parker reviewed the Property Owner Connection Status report, updated through July 12, 2024.
OTHER ITEMS THAT MAY COME BEFORE THE BOARD
None
ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn meeting was made at 7:42 PM by Joe Cleland with second by Jack Bonewits.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 6 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
Submitted to Board by Lichelle Parker, District Administrator
Reviewed by Board Secretary, Mark Koehler