Lakeland Regional Sewer District – January 21, 2026 Regular Meeting Minutes
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: Jim Haney, Mike DeWald, Cullen Reece, Mark Koehler, Jack Bonewits, Rosa Ritchie, Bob Hookman
Absent: n/a
ELECTION OF 2026 OFFICERS
Motion by Rosa Ritchie to nominate Jim Haney to continue to serve as President. No other nominations.
Motion by Mike DeWald to close the nominations.
Motion to close the nominations carried by voice vote of: 7 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstain
Cullen Reece seconded the motion nominating Jim Haney to serve as President.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 7 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
Motion by Jim Haney to nominate Mark Koehler to continue to serve as Vice President. No other nominations.
Motion by Jim Haney to close the nominations.
Motion to close the nominations carried by voice vote of: 7 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstain
Jack Bonewits seconded the motion nominating Mark Koehler to serve as Vice President.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 7 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
Motion by Jim Haney to nominate Mike DeWald to continue to serve as Treasurer. No other nominations.
Motion by Jim Haney to close the nominations.
Motion to close the nominations carried by voice vote of: 7 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstain
Mark Koehler seconded the motion nominating Mike DeWald to serve as Treasurer.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 7 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
Motion by Jim Haney to nominate Rosa Ritchie to continue to serve as Secretary. No other nominations.
Motion by Jim Haney to close the nominations.
Motion to close the nominations carried by voice vote of: 7 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstain
Mike DeWald seconded the motion nominating Rosa Ritchie to serve as Secretary.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 7 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
None
APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS GENERAL MEETING MINUTES AND EXECUTIVE SESSION MINUTES
A draft of the December 17, 2025, regular meeting minutes was submitted to all Board members via email on December 23, 2025. The final version was posted on Boardable on January 2, 2026.
Motion by Mark Koehler to approve; second by Jack Bonewits.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 6 Yeas; 0 Nays; 1 Abstain (CR)
A draft of the January 14, 2026 Executive Session meeting minutes was sent to Rosa Ritchie, Secretary, for review on January 20, 2026, and posted to Boardable the same day.
Motion by Jim Haney to approve; second by Jack Bonewits.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 6 Yeas; 0 Nays; 1 Abstain (MD)
2026 COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS
The Board has three committees.
Finance Committee – The By-laws require the Treasurer to serve on the Finance Committee. In addition to Mike DeWald serving, Jim Haney would recommend that Mark Koehler and Bob Hookman be appointed to the Finance Committee; second by Rosa Ritchie.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 7 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
Independent Contractor Committee – Jim Haney recommends appointing Jim Haney, Mark Koehler, and Bob Hookman to the Independent Contractor Committee; second by Jack Bonewits.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 7 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
Salary Ordinance Committee – Jim Haney recommends appointing Jim Haney, Mark Koehler, and Jack Bonewits to serve on the Salary Ordinance Committee; second by Mike DeWald.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 7 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
TREASURER’S REPORT AND OTHER FINANCIAL MATTERS
Mike Dewald overviewed the Cash and Funds Balance Matrix – December 31, 2025 denoting the funds grand total of $2,805,652.
Mike DeWald overviewed the Management Cash Budget of January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025.
Motion by Mike DeWald to transfer $150,000 from the O&M fund to the ARF fund; second by Cullen Reece.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 7 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
Regarding the audit expense in the budget, Mark Koehler questioned why the District would budget for that and Mike clarified that the District is required to be audited, but they only occur every 3-5 years.
The following December 2025 financial reports, prepared by 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 Jim Haney to approve; second by Mark Koehler.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 7 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
The Monthly Claims Approval form of January 2026 was reviewed by Lichelle Parker.
Motion to approve the payment of monthly claims grand total of $ 96,350.93 by Jim Haney with second by Mark Koehler.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 7 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
Board members affixed their signature approval to the Monthly Claim Approval Form.
Occasionally there are “moved out” properties with remaining unpaid account balances. Jim requested the Board think about what dollar value is worth going through the small claims process for these properties. It costs $97 in filing fees to file the claim and Jim is planning to attend a small claims hearing to try to better understand how involved the process is. In the past, the District has tried utilizing a collection agency for unpaid accounts, but that has not been useful. Currently there is one account in which the final bill was sent over 180 days ago, which has an account balance of $124.48.
Motion by Jim Haney to write off $124.48 for the former property owner with a name of Wheeler at 4847 E Armstrong Rd; second by Cullen Reece.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 7 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
Cullen noticed that one of the two CD’s will be maturing next week and he wondered what the plan was with that. The Board voted last year to give Mike DeWald the authority to renew CDs as he saw fit. Mike’s intent is to continue to renew CDs as they mature to stay on the same maturity rotation.
ASTBURY MONTHLY REPORT
PUMP/PANEL INVENTORY, CUSTOMER PROTOCOL REMINDER
The LRSD Treatment System Operations Treatment System Operations Report of January 16, 2026 was emailed to Board members by Astbury Water Technology, Inc. Matt Rippey reviewed key aspects of the report and provided clarifications to Board members’ inquiries.
Jim noted that Astbury has begun progress billing on the GIS mapping/Inspection project and the District has requested Astbury include with the invoice, a summary of the # of stations inspected for the month, as well as the cumulative stations inspected, and also the cumulative dollar amount billed to date.
Matt provided additional information on the issue with the fine screen auger. The shaft slipped out of the retaining brackets/rings. The last time this happened, Astbury did the repairs themselves after the auger was removed, however, since this is basically the same issue that happened last time, Astbury is in the process of obtaining quotes to take the auger to a shop that works on this type of equipment. They should have the quotes by the next meeting.
At the end of 2025, there was approximately $2500 surplus left in the annual maintenance fund with Astbury. They have been directed to carry over this credit to the 2026 annual maintenance fund.
Jim questioned on work order 251968 why operators had to go back the next morning to the same residence. Matt clarified that there was a problem with the relay that created an issue between the start and run capacitor. This is an infrequent problem that the newer operators may not have understood the full issue.
Jim had some questions on the inventory status of contactors, floats (3-floats) and pumps.
Contactors and floats are on order.
There are currently 19 pumps in inventory. There are four replacements pumps expected to be received for warranty claims.
Motion by Jim Haney to authorize a purchase order to be issued for 25 pumps; second by Cullen Reece.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 7 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
Mike questioned what kind of records were available on the usefulness of the rebuilt pumps. Lichelle keeps track of some information regarding the rebuilt pumps and will forward that to the Board.
Matt noted that there were not a lot of GIS Mapping/Grinder Station inspections completed in December because of the weather and holidays.
NON-COMPLIANCE SECTION 15.4.2 of the DISTRICT’S USE ORDINANCE
Lakelife has recently had four violations of the District’s Use Ordinance pertaining to prohibited discharge of oils and grease (Section 15.4.2):
December 12, 2025 = 181 mg/L
January 2, 2026 = 109 mg/L
January 8, 2026 = 118 mg/L
January 12, 2026 = 116 mg/L
Joe Gallas notified Lichelle earlier this afternoon that he has sold LakeLife and the new contact’s name is Nathan Berry. Jim suggested having a conversation with the new owner to understand his plan regarding the grease trap cleanings. Mike disagreed, stating that all the District should need to know is if they are in compliance; if they are not, it is not the District’s responsibility how they get into compliance. He feels they should be fined for the current violations.
Motion by Jack Bonewits to fine the prior owner (Boss Properties) $2500 for the December 12, 2025, violation and to fine the new owner, (Jameson Berry Holdings LLC) $2500 for the last three incidents, and for Carson LLP to prepare letters to notify them accordingly; second by Mike DeWald.
Cullen Reece questioned if the motion was to fine the current owner (Jameson Berry Holdings LLC) $2500 per occurrence or $2500 total and Jack clarified $2500 per occurrence for three violations.
Jim questioned that if the new owner had no idea of these grease issues and if the new owner corrects the problem, will that soften the Board’s stance going forward. The majority agreed that if the new owner resolves the grease issues, they would be willing to review the situation and consider waiving the fees.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 7 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
The District received test results today from the Barbee Hotel sampling which occurred on January 13, 2026. The test results were 147 mg/L which is a violation of the District’s Use Ordinance. To the District’s knowledge, the hotel has never jetted the line from the grinder station to the grease trap as was recommended by Strombeck Bros in August 2025. The hotel was fined $2500 each for two violations in the last half of 2025. The Board is concerned that fining alone is not incentivizing the establishment to resolve the grease issue. Discussion ensued about the impact to the District’s equipment of large amounts of grease entering the force main. Carson LLP is going to review the statute and/or Use Ordinance to confirm when the District has the authority to shut off sewer service to a customer.
Motion by Jim Haney to assess a $2500 fine for the violation from January 13, 2026, and for Carson to draft a letter notifying them of the fine and that if necessary the Board will consider discontinuance of sewer service to the property; second by Jack Bonewits.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 7 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
REQUEST TO RESCIND NSF FEE – TAYLOR
The District received a request from Chris & Tammi Taylor of 29 EMS B61i Lane to rescind the $30 NSF fee issued on December 31, 2025. The Taylors were victims of fraud and had to close all their accounts and establish new accounts. During this transition, Ms. Taylor indicated she logged into her sewer account on December 2, 2025, to update their sewer ACH autopay account information. However, ACH updates are not allowed on the online account system; they must be made through Astbury billing personnel. And if Ms. Taylor tried to make a new autopay via e-check, the system would have logged this transaction. The log only shows activity on January 6, 2026. Since that time Ms. Taylor has spoken with Astbury billing and updated their ACH account information and cancelled the echeck autopay.
Motion by Mike DeWald to approve the request to rescind the $30 NSF fee from the Taylor’s account; second by Cullen Reece.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 7 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR COMMITTEE
During the last month, Bob Hookman has reviewed historical pump failure data with Tim Hare of Astbury, and has created a “Summary of grinder pump life expectancy” which was presented to and discussed with the Board. The information provided a model of grinder pump reliability with projected yearly failures and the cost impact of those failures. It helps to provide a more focused target to use for pumps in the asset replacement fund. He suggested to review and update the data annually. To provide this data, Bob had to graph the information he gathered and noted that there is a statistical software called Minitab that would be very beneficial to help with this data going forward. The software costs approximately $300-400.
Motion by Cullen Reece to authorize the purchase of the Minitab software at a cost up to $500; second by Mike DeWald.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 7 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
Jim suggested that he, Lichelle, Matt Rippey, and possibly the new District Administrator, Jenna, to meet over the next couple weeks to update some information on the Asset Replacement Management worksheet (adding driveway maintenance/repaving costs, relining of lift stations two and three, etc.)
ENGINEERING UPDATE
Nothing to report.
PURCHASING UPDATE
As of Monday, January 19, 2026, there were five open purchase orders:
Regarding PO 202530, Astbury has begun progress billing for the inspection/GIS mapping project with one invoice received to-date for November 2025 project hours.
The District has a Small Purchase Policy which allows the Board to make purchases under $50,000 without obtaining three quotes. There are three purchasing agents within the policy, including Lichelle who has the authority to purchase up to $9,999.99. Jim requested Carson update this policy to be reviewed/approved in the next Board meeting. The Board members were okay with the new District Administrator, Jenna Habegger, to have the same purchasing authority as Lichelle currently does. Jack Bonewits volunteered to be the third purchasing agent, along with Jim Haney and Jenna in the amended resolution.
FINANCE COMMITTEE
Nothing to report.
PROPERTY OWNER CONNECTION STATUS
Lichelle reviewed the Property Owner Connection Status report, updated through January 16, 2026.
The District (and the County Health Dept) received an anonymous letter in December with concerns that the detached garage at 6735 E South Barbee is inhabited. Currently the District only charges the property for 1 EDU for the single family residence on the property. During the initial project, the permit application indicated that there is a sewer line from the detached garage that wyes into the sewer line from the residence that feeds into the grinder station. However, the District never charged a partial or full EDU for the garage because the county (during the construction project) indicated that the permit for the garage was not for living quarters. The District sent a letter to the property owner, Mr. MacLagan, requesting he contact the District within information on the status of the garage. Mr. MacLagan spoke with Lichelle today, January 21, 2026, and confirmed that the detached garage has sewage producing capabilities. With the new information that the garage has sewage producing capabilities and that it is discharging to the District’s system, discussion ensued on whether the detached garage should be billed as an additional .5 or additional 1 EDU.
Motion by Jim Haney to start billing 1.5 EDUs effective January 22, 2026, for the residence and guesthouse (detached garage) on the property; second by Cullen Reece.
Mike DeWald noted that he feels the property should be billed 2 EDUs. Other Board members expressed their agreement with Mike.
Motion to start billing 1.5 EDUs carried by voice vote of: 4 Yeas; 3 Nays; 0 Abstains
Lichelle will follow up with the county to let them know that the detached garage does have sewage producing capabilities.
APPROVE DISTRICT ADMINISTRATOR EMPLOYMENT OFFER
The Board extended an Offer of Employment to Jenna Habegger to join the District as the District Administrator, which she accepted on January 16, 2026. If the employment offer is approved, February 2, 2026 will be her anticipated start date.
Motion by Jim Haney to approve the Jenna Habegger employment offer letter that was signed January 16, 2026; second by Cullen Reece.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 7 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
OTHER ITEMS THAT MAY COME BEFORE THE BOARD
Andy Boxberger of Carson LLP emailed the Board members on January 8, 2026, regarding Senate bill (No. 187) that is very concerning for the future of regional sewer districts. Jim will draft a letter on behalf of the Board to send to our State Senator and Representative.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn meeting was made at 8:18PM by Cullen Reece with second by Mike DeWald.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 7 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
Submitted to Board by Lichelle Parker, District Administrator
Reviewed by Board Secretary, Rosa Ritchie