AUGUST UTILITY MEETING MINUTES

AUGUST 25, 2009

The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Chair of the Utility Committee Cindy Endicott.  Present for the meeting were Chair Endicott, supervisors Jeff Bachke and Greg Andrews, MSA representatives Jerome Flogel and Eric Sautbine, clerk Patti Alander, deputy clerk Cammy Hansen.  Committee member Robert Parker was absent.  Resident Gerald Robison joined the meeting at 6:30 p.m.

A motion to approve the June utility meeting minutes was made by Cindy and seconded by Greg.  All vote in favor, motion carried.  A motion to approve the July utility meeting minutes was made by Cindy and seconded by Jeff.  All vote in favor, motion carried.

Correspondence:   None

Sewer/Water Project 1A update:  Jerome sent a message to Dave Oberstar to get an update on the legal aspect of the transfer to WLSSD.  He has not yet received a response, but let him know that we would like to have this transaction finalized before winter.  Patti said that Dave is working on the easement as well.  We are still paying the power and phone bills at this time.  Jerome will make some calls to see what the status is.

Sewer/Water Project 1B update:  Cindy asked Jerome about the recommendation to televise a portion of the line on West Calvary (the area around the Spindler property) that was referenced in the July minutes.   Jerome responded that it still needs to be done.  Patti asked if this televising is something that MN Rural Water could do.  Jerome said that they don’t have the proper equipment for this type of televising (manhole to manhole) but may be used in the future for things such as lateral lines from curb stop to homes. 

The 90 day notification to the residents on the 1B project expires on 9/20/09.  Cindy asked what will be done with the residents who have not hooked up by that date.  Patti responded that the ordinance addresses that.  Cammy offered to send reminder letters to the residents who have not yet begun the process.  The AEOA program was also discussed.

Patti asked Jerome about two curb stops that need to be raised.  Is this Wagner’s responsibility?  Jerome will look at them and see what needs to be done and who will be responsible for the repairs.

WLSSD Service Limit Exceedence:  Cindy asked if the Town had received any service limit overages with the recent heavy rains.  Greg responded that yes, we have:  Lift Station 9 (avg. 50,000 gallons per day) was up to 250,000 gallons, five different times.  Jerome also wants to check on Lift Station 3 and Lift Station 10.  We suspect an I&I problem on LS 3. 

Kolstad, Austin, Chicago and Milwaukee Roads Water Replacement discussion:   569 Grant application was submitted, no new additional information at this time.  Cammy mentioned that she received a call from the City of Duluth today that they suspect a leak on the corner of Kolstad and Calvary.  The town has been aware of this leak for some time, but does not have the funding available at this time to make the repair, estimated at $2,000,000.00.  Patti will make a comparison to last year’s water usage to see if we are significantly higher than last year.  Jeff asked about other options; Jerome will look to see if MSA has done cost estimates on alternatives.

Business from the Floor:  None

Lift Station #3:  Jerome mentioned the meeting with our attorney that is scheduled for this Friday to discuss the upcoming mediation process.  Jerome recommends that we close this project out as it is now complete.  USA has requested the final payment.  That will also be discussed on Friday.

Lift Station #1:  Work commenced today on the manhole.  The first construction meeting will be with RJS next Thursday at 8:00 a.m.

Lift Station #4:  Larry Shelton has been given the go ahead to make the necessary repairs; the estimated cost for the pump is $2,000.00 and the rails are $800.00

Sanitary Sewer Repairs/Plans:  Larry Shelton will begin work on these tomorrow.  Equipment was brought on site today.  A copy of the contract was given to Patti.

New Business:  Greg asked if the dialer (Lift Station #3) now has the correct numbers programmed.  Jerome responded that yes that has been completed.  The committee also discussed the failure of Lift Station #3 last week and the events that occurred.  Also discussed was the fact that we need to find a third party company that can address these afterhours issues.

Next meeting Date:  September 16, 2009, 6:00 p.m.

Having nothing further to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 6:50 p.m.