SEPTEMBER UTILITY MEETING MINUTES

SEPTEMBER 16, 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, Greg Andrews and John Goman; MSA representatives Jerome Flogel and Eric Sautbine; clerk Patti Alander; deputy clerk Cammy Hansen; and residents Mark North and Andrea Schmaltz.  Absent was committee member Robert Parker.

1.        BUSINESS FROM THE FLOOR:

Mark North,

Andrea Schmaltz,

After much discussion, the residents were assured that the Town’s attorney drafted the assessment documents and that they were executed according to Minnesota statutes.  If the residents are in disagreement with how the process was conducted, they would need to take action as they see fit.  Patti will check with our attorney to ask about the wording on the properties to be assessed. 

Andrea asked for an updated list of contractors who are able to do the work.  Cammy gave her a new list.     She is concerned that contractors are price-gouging residents now that the deadline for connection is near.  Cindy suggested that the residents who have not yet signed a contract for the excavation get together to see if they can get a “group rate” for the connection. 

Mark said that he has gotten one estimate and it was over $12,000.00.  He does not have the money to do this and will not be able to connect this year. 

Also discussed was the use of water that would not go into the sewer system (watering lawns, washing cars, etc.)  At this time the town does not have a method of billing separately for that water.

Mark asked if we would speak with our attorney regarding re-assessing the properties.  Jeff asked Patti to check with our attorney to see if the wording on the Notice of Hearing on Assessment would require any additional action on the part of the Town.

2.       UTILITY FEES:

Cammy advised the committee that there are residents that are connected to the new sewer/water system that have not yet paid the connection fees that are due.  This is the result of a miscommunication between the contractor, the Town and the homeowner.  The homeowner has stated that they do not have the funds to pay the connection fees (Cammy read the email from the homeowner into the record.) All homeowners were notified of the amount of the connection fees more than once.  The committee decided to give the homeowner until December 31, 2009 to pay the fees; Cammy will send a letter to that effect.

One other resident was connected without paying the fees.  Cammy will call him tomorrow.

3.       SEWER/WATER EXPANSION PROJECT 1A UPDATE:  WLSSD ownership:  Jerome has spoken with Carrie (Caroline)Clement and Jack Ezell.  They are waiting to receive the MPCA agreement from David Oberstar; they are, however, willing to sign a temporary agreement that can be used in the meantime.  Jerome will begin this process.

4.        SEWER/WATER EXPANSION PROJECT 1B UPDATE

A.       Warranty inspection begun today, must be completed by 10/7/09.  Patti and Jerome will get televising set up for the line.

B.      There was a warranty problem on the line near the Buehring property.  Wagner agreed to take the cost of this out of the retainage.  Jerome expects the costs to be beyond what we have in the retainage, so that will need to be addressed.

5.       KOLSTAD, AUSTIN, CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE WATER REPLACMENT:   Patti has done some research of past usage and has been able to account for a large portion of our water usage.  The assumption is that the leak on Kolstad and E. Calvary may not be a severe as we thought.

6.       LIFT STATION #3:  Jerome went over the outcome of the mediation:  USA will end up giving us $5,000.00 for our claim.  The final payment has been made to USA ’s attorney.  We still need to get the final punch list. 

7.        LIFT STATION #1:   Final construction meeting was today, all seems on budget and on schedule.  Patti asked Jerome or Eric to identify what materials we should keep for future use.

8.       LIFT STATION #4:   New pump that will be installed by Shelton was sent to a machine shop to be sure that it is in good working order.

9.       SANITARY SEWER REPAIRS/PLANS

A.       Three manholes are complete; three remain left to do (two on Second Avenue North and one on

B.      Patti mentioned that she drove down Second Avenue North and there are parts of the road that are partially blocked by equipment and/or soil while this repair is occurring.

10.   WATER USE ORDINANCE:  Patti has not heard anything new from David Oberstar regarding this.

11.   I & I, COMPREHENSIVE MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS MANUAL (CMOM):

A.       Jerome distributed reports showing the flows for lift stations during the recent rain event.  We had some exceedences during that period.  Lift Station #1 can be accounted for due to the construction that has been occurring.  Lift Station #9 can be attributed to the fact that we do not yet have established flows.  Lift Station #3 flows may indicate an I & I problem.  We suspect that there may be a resident with a sump pump going into the sewer.  Patti will send a letter to this resident so advising that we will need to inspect the grinder station.

B.      Jerome recommends that we prepare a new tracking sheet for daily Lift Station readings that will incorporate some additional data.  From these sheets, we will set up a spread sheet for each lift station to keep better records.    

12.   NEXT MEETING DATE:  October 21, 2009, 6:00 p.m.