Lakeland Regional Sewer District – July 16, 2025 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 6:06 PM by Jim Haney.
Present: Jim Haney, Mike DeWald Mark Koehler, Jack Bonewits, Rosa Ritchie, Bob Hookman
Absent: Cullen Reece
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
Joe Gallas, Lakelife Bar & Grill owner, was present at the meeting and wondered if he needed to do anything else regarding the restaurant’s grease trap situation. Jim stated that he has been forwarding the weekly test results to Joe and so far there has not been an exceedance since the grease trap was recently cleaned. Jim suggested Joe touch base with Strombeck and request them to provide the District with some clarity on the grease cleaning schedule (specific dates would be preferred), as well as documenting on the invoice the grease measurements taken before the cleaning.
Public comment period closed at 6:11PM.
APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS GENERAL MEETING MINUTES
A draft of the June 18, 2025 regular meeting minutes was submitted to all Board members via email on June 23, 2025. The final version was posted on Boardable on July 1, 2025.
Motion by Jim Haney to approve; second by Mark Koehler.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 6 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
TREASURER’S REPORT AND OTHER FINANCIAL MATTERS
Mike Dewald overviewed the Cash and Funds Balance Matrix – June 30, 2025 denoting the funds grand total of $2,692,879.
Mike DeWald overviewed the Management Cash Budget of January 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025.
The following June 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 Bob Hookman.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 6 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
The semi-annual USDA payment is due August 1st and the funds are in place to make the payment.
The Monthly Claims Approval form of July 2025 was reviewed by Lichelle Parker.
Motion to approve the payment of monthly claims grand total of $42,207.42 by Jim Haney with second by Jack Bonewits.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 6 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
Board members affixed their signature approval to the Monthly Claim Approval Form.
ASTBURY MONTHLY REPORT
PUMP/PANEL INVENTORY, CUSTOMER PROTOCOL REMINDER
The LRSD Treatment System Operations Treatment System Operations Report of July 12, 2025 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.
After a customer alerted the District to a valve lid on B9 that was partially exposed because the driveway was deteriorating around it, Jim requested input from DLZ and Astbury was going to look into the costs to pour a concrete pad around the valve lid. DLZ had cautioned for the potential need for INDOT permits (if the road needed to be closed or inaccessible because of repairs). However, the valve was found to be adjustable and after vaccuming around it, was lowered to be even with the driveway grade. Jim requested a little more upfront insight/research from Astbury going forward in situations like these to avoid unnecessary involvement (like DLZ, vendor quotes, etc.). Jim stated that he was very happy with the outcome, but just requested a little more forethought before involving additional parties.
Lakelife sample results were listed in the operations report. While all but the 6/5/25 sample were under the 100mg/L limit, several were high (93.2, 78.8, & 91.2mg/L). Jim is hopeful that scheduling more frequent cleanings of the grease trap will help to keep the restaurant compliant and is encouraged by the recent actions taken by Lakelife to reach a resolution to violations.
Matt provided the District with an evaluation process for pumps when pulled to determine if they should be sent to Kesters Electric to try to rebuild. Jim commented that he does not want pumps sent to Kesters if there is no hope of repair. Kesters charges the District for these and it is an unneeded expense. Matt indicated that Astbury personnel will test for a short to ground and if none is found then the pump will be sent to be rebuilt; if a short is found, the pump will be scrapped.
DISCUSS FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR GRINDER STATION DAMAGES WHEN THE PROPERTY HAS CHANGED OWNERSHIP
Last month Jim asked the Board members to be thinking about ways to document the status of grinder stations at the time of a property ownership change. Three options mentioned last month included:
Have Astbury do a site visit/inspection to all stations throughout the District to document any existing problems as of that time.
Include verbiage in the new owner welcome letter that Lichelle sends out monthly to new owners, recommending the new property owner inspect their station and report any damage with 7-10 days.
Initiate a rate ordinance change to charge new property owners a fee which includes an Astbury inspection of the equipment to document the status of the equipment at the time of ownership change.
The Board members discussed these options and decided to add verbiage to the welcome letter requesting new owners to visually inspect the stations on their property and to report damage within 10 days. Andy Boxberger (Carson LLP) requested stressing to the customer that they are not to open any part of the station. Jack requested pictures or a drawing to be included so the customers can recognize what they should be looking for. Astbury will provide a list of items to Lichelle to include in the letter for the customer to check.
The members agreed for Lichelle to go ahead and begin using the revised letter after Jim reviews the revisions.
PROPOSED LIEN ON PROPERTIES SOLD AT TAX SALE
Last fall the Gray property (29 EMS T9) did not obtain their second septic exemption extension and failed to connect to the sewer, so the District began assessing failure to connect penalties in December 2024. The property sold in the October 2024 tax sale (for past due property taxes – no sewer liens at that time). None of the failure to connect fees, nor the regular sewer charges have been paid on the account since December and Lichelle requested guidance on what amount to assess as a lien. The current purchase cost has covered the past due property taxes and the first installment of current year property taxes and leaves a surplus. Our policy indicates that we can file a lien to take advantage of the surplus, however, the District does not want the cost of sewer liens assessed to the property to deter the buyer’s decision.
Motion by Jim Haney to allow Lichelle and Jim to perform a calculation on the costs of sewer bills, failure to connect fees, and anticipated property taxes to arrive at a lien amount of which the lien amount plus the taxes is not more than $23,500; second by Jack Bonewits.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 6 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
REQUEST TO RESCIND $30 NSF FEE – KNEZ
Astbury billing notified Lichelle that the customer of 21 EMS B46 (Knez) had contacted them requesting that a $30 NSF fee assessed to their account on 7/2/25 be rescinded. Astbury had been notified by the bank that the payment Astbury applied on 6/30/25 was returned because the account was closed; the $30 NSF fee was then added to the account. The customer stated that they had mailed updated bank account information for their autopay, however, Astbury indicated that they had not received the notice. The ACH Autopay form is available on the website with instructions to return by email or mail.
Motion by Jack Bonewits to not refund the $30 NSF fee; second by Mike DeWald.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 6 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR COMMITTEE
Nothing to report.
ENGINEERING UPDATE
Nothing to report.
PURCHASING UPDATE
As of July 14, 2025, there were three open POs to Astbury; two for check valve replacements and one for Purafil media for the lift stations.
FINANCE COMMITTEE
Nothing to report.
PROPERTY OWNER CONNECTION STATUS
Lichelle reviewed the Property Owner Connection Status report, updated through July 11, 2025.
OTHER ITEMS THAT MAY COME BEFORE THE BOARD
Carson LLP sent a second notice to Sage Drilling to pay the District (for the damage to the force main on B33/B34) by July 18, 2025. (Lichelle sent the initial communication in April.) To date, neither Carson nor the District has received any response. Andy questioned what action the Board wants Carson to take if the District does not receive payment by the due date. It was decided to wait and discuss at the Board meeting next month what additional actions will be taken, but Andy confirmed that this could be a good item for Lichelle to file as a small claims suit.
Jim noted that although the District rescinded the fines to Lakelife, the account is still past due because of late fees and their account will be under review within the next couple of months for a lien if not paid. There is no action at this time, but Jim wanted the Board to be aware of the situation and that a letter may be sent during one of the next few delinquent account reviews.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn meeting was made at 7:07 PM by Jim Haney with second by Mark Koehler.
Motion carried by voice vote of: 6 Yeas; 0 Nays; 0 Abstains
Submitted to Board by Lichelle Parker, District Administrator
Reviewed by Board Secretary, Rosa Ritchie