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 6:06PM by Jim Haney.
Present: Jim Haney, Joe Cleland, Cullen Reece, Jack Bonewits
Absent: Mike DeWald and Mark Koehler
ELECTION OF OFFICER (SECRETARY) FOR THE BALANCE OF 2024
Motion by Jim Haney to elect Mark Koehler to serve as Secretary for the balance of 2024;
second by Joe Cleland.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 4 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
UPDATE BANKING RESOLUTION
The District’s officers are the authorized signors on the bank account, so with the new election
of Mark Koehler to Secretary, the Banking Resolution needs updated to add such.
Motion by Jim Haney to approve Banking Resolution 2024-05 with second by Jack
Bonewits.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 4 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
None
APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS GENERAL MEETING MINUTES
An initial draft of the March 20, 2024 Regular Meeting Minutes was emailed to all Board
members on March 25, 2024 and the final version was posted on Boardable.
Motion to approve March 20, 2024 Regular Meeting Minutes by Jim Haney with second by
Jack Bonewits.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 4 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
TREASURER’S REPORT AND OTHER FINANCIAL MATTERS
Jim Haney overviewed the Cash and Funds Balance Matrix – March 31, 2024 denoting the
funds grand total of $2,256,997.
Jim Haney overviewed the Management Cash Budget of January 1, 2024 through
March 31, 2024 and Monthly Claim Approval Form of April 2024.
Motion to approve the payment of monthly claims grand total of $124,333.87 by Jim Haney
with second by Joe Cleland .
Motion carried by voice vote of: 4 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
Board members affixed their signature approval to the Monthly Claim Approval Form.
The following financial reports prepared by O. W. Krohn & Associates were presented by Jim
Haney: Unaudited Schedule of Cash Receipts and Disbursements; Monthly Analysis of Funds
Balances; and Monthly Analysis of Cash and Investment Accounts.
Motion to approve by Jim Haney with second by Cullen Reece.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 4 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
ASTBURY MONTHLY REPORT
PUMP/PANEL INVENTORY, CUSTOMER PROTOCOL REMINDER
The LRSD Treatment System Operations Treatment System Operations Report of
April 12, 2024 was emailed to Board members by Astbury Water Technology, Inc. Josh Koontz
reviewed key aspects of the report and provided clarifications to Board members’ inquiries.
Jim questioned when the fine screen was scheduled to be reinstalled. Josh indicated that it
should be complete before the next meeting. Astbury is waiting for the crane truck to be
returned next week and then they will pull the motor. Jim requested Josh to email the board if
there were any issues.
Astbury continues to place the new homeowner information labels on the grinder stations
throughout the District; Josh estimates to be approximately 10% complete.
Lift Station #1 was emptied to do the coating and since it was refilled, there has been an issue
with it not reading correctly when it is below 4.5’. Immediately after it was powered back up, but
while it was still empty, the transducer was reading 4’ and the reading did not become correct
until it reached 4.5’. George E. Booth Co is the supplier for the houser controller and transducer
and are supposed to be here next week. The pumps kick on at 5’, so it is functioning, but is not
giving the correct reading below 4.5’.
A work order from March 26, 2024 indicated that when there was a power outage and the
generator kicked on, that Lift Station #1 pumps 1 and 2 tripped. Joe Cleland asked if Astbury
was going to try to reconstruct the power outage situation to see if the same issue occurred
again? Josh indicated that they would.
Astbury is continuing to monitor the grease accumulation at the grinder stations monthly for both
the restaurants (Barbee Hotel and Lakelife). At the most recent inspection on April 2, 2024, the
grease accumulation at the Barbee Hotel was worse than it has been; the technician pulled the
floats and cleaned them. Jim suggested sending a letter to the Hotel letting them know about
the grease levels and inquiring if they have changes any of their practices which might have
contributed to the higher levels.
Carson LLP sent correspondence on April 9, 2024, to Lakelife’s counsel requesting an update
on what remediation has occurred at Lakelife since the last correspondence in October 2023.
To-date there has been no response to the inquiry.
Motion by Jim Haney to resume weekly sampling beginning on, or around May 1, 2024;
second by Joe Cleland.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 4 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
Josh deferred providing any updates or answering questions about the Ferris Chloride research
to Tom Astbury at one of the upcoming meetings.
Josh clarified that two grinder stations at Lake Estates were opened only for them to have a
visual as the Lake Estates contractor augured the laterals from the trailers. No work was done
within or access given into the grinder stations themselves.
There were parts purchased in March through the maintenance fund for an air compressor and
Jim questioned what the compressor is used for. Josh informed Jim that the compressor runs
the air actuator valves on the plant. (It is a very large air compressor.)
There has been a lot of discussion amongst Tom Astbury, Carson LLP, and Jim working to
create an amendment to the Astbury Agreement which will allow Astbury to perform utility
locates for the District. The new amendment will allow the utility locates to be part of the man-
hours dedicated to the District, however, that man-hours will be increased to 65 from 60.
Motion by Cullen Reece to allow Jim Haney to sign the agreement provided that Astbury
signs it as well; second by Joe Cleland.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 4 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
USIC requires a 30-day notice to terminate our contract. When Tom sends back the signed
agreement, Jim will notify USIC the same day.
ENGINEERING UPDATE
Casey (DLZ) provided a summary of the research that he, along with Astbury and Aeromod,
have been doing regarding the blower improvements. There are no recommendations or
resolutions yet, but are researching two options to address the actuator that needs to be
replaced. The actuator controls the air going to the digestor and currently the blowers are
shared between the digestor and the tanks. Astbury suggested taking this opportunity to
improve the efficiency of the operations instead of just replacing the valve.
Option 1 – Piping revisions; isolate the blowers between the digestor and tanks. This
option will include quite a bit of stainless-steel piping, a few valves and fittings, and
struts. This would include some manual valves so Astbury could still send air to the EQ
and change it back, if needed for any reason, to the way it is now. Do need to check to
see if we would need to change any of the controls.
Option 2 – Replace the actuators to address the immediate problem of replacing the
infrastructure, but would not address the concerns of the down time like option 1 would.
However, Aerodmod believes there may be a way to modify the controls to minimize the
downtime with this option. There are additional conferences set up to discuss in more
detail.
Josh clarified that if the District goes with option one, there is not really a need to replace the
actuator, but will be if go with option 2. The District is okay to hold off purchasing the actuator
until next month when a decision can be made to go with option 1 or 2.
There are a few permit application plan reviews in process.
Steve Moriarty with the Kosciusko County Highway department has requested some information
on the approximate depths of our force main near a culvert they are replacing on McKenna
Road. Casey will provide him that information this week.
INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR COMMITTEE
Nothing to report other than the Amendment to the Astbury agreement that has already been
discussed.
PURCHASING UPDATE – Cleland/Astbury
A purchase order was issued to Gasvoda this week for five complete grinder station packages
to replace inventory that will be used within the next few months.
IMPERMISSIBLE DISCHARGE – 4992 N Sullivan
Carson LLP sent a letter certified mail as well as regular mail notifying the residents and
property owners of reports of impermissible discharge. There certified letter was unclaimed,
however, there has been no return of the regular USPS mailed letter. Andy advised that the
District could proceed with Astbury requesting to conduct an inside inspection of the gray water
connections to confirm that all have been corrected. The District will provide Astbury with a
copy of the letter to deliver to the residents in the event they claim they have not received the
mailed letter. If the homeowner’s refuse entry, Astbury will advise the homeowner’s that the
District will be monitoring the situation and if it happens again, there will be a significant fine.
Joe Cleland offered to go with Astbury when they do the inspection.
EASEMENT INFRINGEMENT ISSUES
There have been a couple of easement infringement issues surfaced at 201 EMS B1 and 31
EMS B1B.
201 EMS B1 – the grinder station pit falls within the middle of their sidewalk directly in
line with their front door, and the homeowners have placed plastic decking material
around the grinder station. Josh Koontz took measurements of the grinder station in
relation to the walkway and stairs and to mark where the easement extended to. He
provided photos to the board for review. Several concerns with this situation include:
• Grinder station lid rating – it is not meant to be installed within a sidewalk and
subject to repeated foot traffic
• The vent cap on the grinder station lid poses a significant trip hazard
• Access to the house will be blocked during service calls
It is within the District’s right to have the homeowner remove everything within the
easement. After much discussion, it was decided to notify the property owner that the
connection will not be approved as it is now. As guidance, we will provide them a draft
of a Variance policy that we expect to adopt and ask them to provide a sketch and
information of how they intend to lessen the easement infringement to make the access
safe and accessible.
Andy (Carson LLP) shared information on easement variance policies used at other Districts
which allow for a case-by-case review of situations where the property owner wants to install
something that will encroach on the easement. The Districts then rely heavily on the
maintenance/operations personnel and their opinion as to whether or not the encroachment will
create a significant hardship in relation to the access and maintenance activities of the
equipment. If it is determined that it does not, then the District approves the variance request
and requires the property owner to sign a form stating that they recognize they are encroaching
on the easement and if the encroachment is in the way of District agents performing work, then
it will be tore out, they will be charged for it, and the District will not replace it. This document is
recorded so it remains in force if the property is sold. It was suggested that the policy should
include a fee to submit the variance request, but also a large fine if the request is submitted
after the encroachment has already occurred. Andy is going to draft a variance policy and
associated acknowledgement form for review by the Board members.
31 EMS B1B – the grinder station pit is currently 60” from the foundation, but will be
less than that from the steps and/or sidewalk once it is installed; the curb stop box is
49” from the house and will potentially be in the sidewalk path when it is installed. The
District will send the property owners a letter informing them of the potential easement
infringement and to contact the District to review.
Jim suggested that going forward, the District needs to update the permits to have a check box
and property owner acknowledgment denoting that they have been provided a copy of the
easement at the time of the permit application. This will help ensure they are aware of the
easement parameters as they prepare for their project.
REQUEST TO RESCIND DAMAGE CHARGES – 117 EMS B33 – WEED
A request has been submitted by Dawn Weed, property 117 EMS B33, for the District to rescind
the damage charges assessed to her account at the end of February. The charges included the
costs of a new lid to replace the existing cracked lid; a repair insert, installed because the basin
flange was broken, a vent cap to replace the missing one, and the associated labor hours.
Motion made by Jack Bonewits to deny the request to rescind the damage charges; second
by Cullen Reece.
Motion failed to reach quorum with voice vote of: 3 Yeas; 0 Nays; 1 Abstains
No action taken; damage charges stand.
PROPERTY OWNER CONNECTION STATUS
Lichelle Parker reviewed the Property Owner status report updated through April 12, 2024.
A letter was sent to 29 EMS T9 reminding them that their septic exemption was expiring
on June 24, 2024 and what steps they need to take to extend their exemption. To date,
they have not responded. Andy clarified that a notice/reminder is not required to be sent
to septic exemption property owners whose exemptions are expiring, so we do not need
to follow up with them to remind them again. They will have until their expiration date to
provide an extension from the health department.
Josh Koontz questioned if a property is on rate reduction and has a shared grinder, if the
power should be left on from the rate reduction property? The alarm is fed from only one
side of the type 2 panel, so there may be an issue in these situations. Lichelle will
provide a list to Josh so Astbury can verify that the alarms have power in these panels.
OTHER ITEMS THAT MAY COME BEFORE THE BOARD
27 EMS B56 LANE – Last fall the District decided that it would correct the electrical connection
at 27 EMS B56 Lane because it was errantly approved during the sewer construction by the
District even though it did not meet standards. Lichelle will solicit quotes to perform the work
and communicate with the homeowner to coordinate the scheduled repairs.
Joe Cleland informed the Board that Rosa Ritchie would be interested in joining the Board
again. Jim offered to arrange a time for Jack, Mark, and Cullen to meet and interview her.
There is a vacant spot on the Salary Ordinance Committee which needs to be filled to replace
Rich Dan.
Motion by Jim Haney to recommend Jack Bonewits to serve on the Salary Ordinance
Committee; second by Joe Cleland.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 4 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn meeting was made at 8:10PM by Jim Haney with second by Jack
Bonewits.
Motion carried via voice vote as follows: 4 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains