PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY DISTRICT #13
Minutes of the April 4, 2009
Regular Session of the Board of Trustees

The Board of Directors of Public Water Supply District #13, Jefferson County Missouri met in regular session at 11:00 a.m. on April 4, 2009 at the Lake Tishomingo Community Center, Hillsboro, Missouri.

Roll Call of Directors
The following Directors being present or absent as indicated:
	Name	Present/Absent
	Marilyn Meyer	Present
	Rick Lippitt	Present
	Rich Hirsch	Present
	John Hindrichs	Present
	Ken Jost	Present

Also in attendance was Mary Leiweke (sewer cmte), Janet Hirsch (JWH, LTPOA Board member), Ann Schatzman (AS, notary), Robert Sweeney (RS, PWSD#13 attorney), Tim Robbs (TR, Taylor Eng.) and Joe Gable (TR, Taylor Eng.). There was also an audience estimated to be 120 property owners. 
Introduction
Welcome and introduction of Board members, engineers, lawyer, notary
Marilyn Meyer introduced the sewer board, Janet Hirsch, Mary Leiweke, Bob Sweeney, Tim Robbs, Joe Gable, and Dan Hufker from Flo-systems.

MM: We don't want questions during the presentations. The engineers will present first, then Bob Sweeney will discuss the legal aspects. When you do ask questions, please give us your name and lot number. That way, if we want to get back to you later, we'll know who you are. Questions will be limited to three minutes, so more people have the opportunity to ask questions. 
MM: If you have a specific question regarding your property, please fill out an index card and give it to a board member. All of our homes were built by different builders so every situation is a little bit different. Ann Schatzman is in back notarizing easements and as you probably see, there are construction drawings on the wall and counter that describe the locations of your lateral lines and septic tanks.
MM: Before we begin, we have one thing that Janet would like to mention.

JWH: Thank you Marilyn. I want to address something that came up just this week. Thursday of this week an anonymous letter was sent to many of the homeowners that contained several accusations to discredit the LTPOA board, the PWSD #13 board, and the sewer project. The letter was filled with inflammatory remarks, falsehoods, and scare tactics that were intended to disrupt this meeting. 
This is not the first time individuals have sent out anonymous letters or e-mail messages purporting to tell the truth about some situation. They seem to be issued in response to any attempt to make progress in this community. The critical question raised in that anonymous letter is whether the LTPOA has the right under article 13 of the restrictions to lay sewer pipes. The attorney for the sewer district, Bob Sweeney, will address that in his remarks. The purpose of this meeting is to give the homeowners an update on the sewer project. The purpose is not to address that anonymous letter. But for those of you who want answers to the other questions raised in that letter there will be response sheets available when this meeting is over and will also be posted at the website. And of course you can always speak to or e-mail to any member of the LTPOA board or the PWSD#13 board whenever you have a question.

MM: Thank you. Our first speaker is Tim Robbs of Taylor Engineering.

Engineer’s Presentation
Description of STEP tank and effluent  pump
	Description of WWTP and collection system
[Slides Tim Robbs presented are here]
TR: I'm Tim Robbs, project manager from Taylor engineering. We're here today to describe the system that we intend to put in to address the sewer issue. Also with us today is Dan Hufker. He has examples in back of the equipment that will actually go into your pumping systems. 
TR: Today I want to discuss a few things. First will be an introduction to effluent sewer systems: what is an effluent sewer, what are the advantages of an effluent sewer system, what are the operation and maintenance (O&M) requirements, and what are the costs? Then we will talk about the treatment plant and the recirculating sand filter.

TR: Effluent sewers are all around the United States; they are not new and they are widely used. Most older communities use a gravity-type sewer system. They use a combination of gravity mains and lift stations. Gravity systems require 8 to 12 foot deep sewers, so they're expensive to put in. The effluent system that we're proposing to put in for you consists only of lines and has no manholes, lift stations or anything like that. They are shallow. With an effluent sewer system, each home is really its own little lift station.
TR: Comparing the flows for the two systems: 120 gallons per minute for gravity and 50 for the effluent system. Flow for the gravity system needs to be greater because gravity sewers have a lot of leaks and infiltration. An effluent sewer system is a closed system and does not allow excess water into it. So you don't need to treat as much water, which means the treatment plant can be smaller.
TR: Other benefits of effluent sewers include low maintenance costs, good for hilly areas, low visual impact, over 25 years of documented performance, negligible power cost for the homeowner, and 5 to 10 years between pump outs of your septic tank.
TR: The type of effluent sewer we're installing is called a STEP system. STEP stands for Septic Tank Effluent Pumping. Tanks will be a minimum of 1000 or 1500 gallon. The tank contains a small 115 volt pump with a flow rate of 10 gallon per minute. The pump is rated at a 20 yr lifetime and is very similar to a well pump. It doesn't pump solids. All the solids will remain in the tank.
TR: Tanks will be concrete or fiberglass with concrete being preferred. We may reuse an existing tank, if the tank is relatively new and sound. This is to disrupt the yard as little as possible. Reusing an existing tank will be on a case-by-case situation. Every six months to a year the tank filter will be cleaned. It is an easy job.
TR: An alarm will sound if the pump does not turn on when it's supposed to. There will still be room in the tank for additional flushes when the alarm sounds.
TR: Primary treatment of sewage is in the septic tanks. The tank will remove 80% of the fats, oils, and greases. It will provide emergency storage if the power is out. 
TR: We plan to use small diameter 2 inch and 3 inch lines for laterals. Mains will be 4 inch diameter. There will be cleanouts and no manholes. Small lines mean small trenches, which mean less disruption to the community and less damage to the yards.
TR: Lines will be buried below the 30 inch frost line. If we hit rock we may go a little shallower. It will keep the construction trauma to a minimum. 
TR: Effluent sewer systems are immune to inflow and infiltration ("I&I").
TR: For the service connection, the line will come from the house to the main line on the street. It will have a check valve, a ball valve, and an access riser before you attach into the main line. We'll have a "toning wire" so you'll be able to find the lateral line if you will be digging in your yard. There will be some automatic air valves mainly at the top of the hills. The air valves will let the air out of the system. If you get a lot of air in the system it can lock up the pumps. There will be cleanouts at the end of the lines.
TR: Operation and Maintenance requirements:
1) An occasional inspection and cleaning of filters by O&M providers.
2) Septic tanks will have to be pumped out in the 5 to 10 year range. If a homeowner uses the garbage disposal and puts all of his grease down the drain, the tank will have to be cleaned out more often. There will be a homeowner's manual to educate family members. You should notify the district if you see anything unusual.
TR: Cost for all of the major equipment to connect to the main line is in the range of $4500-$5500. It will be more expensive if we have to do major upgrades to your electrical system.

Recirculating sand filter
TR: The treatment plant will be built behind the dam. All the effluent pumps will pump into a 100,000 gallon tank. Pumps in the 100,000 gallon tank will pump the effluent onto the recirculating sand filters.
TR: The sand filter consists of a layer of one foot of clean gravel and 3 feet of pea gravel (or sand). Effluent moves down through the sand where it undergoes biological decay. The treated material is collected and sent back to the large tank. If the tank is full, 20% will be discharged from the system and 80% of the material will be sent back through the sand filter. This is equivalent of passing the effluent thru the sand filter five times before it is discharged. This provides for a very high-quality effluent when it is finally discharged.
TR: If you're worried about noise from the pumps, don't be. They will be located 6 to 10 feet below the surface of the water and they're very quiet pumps to start with.
TR: There will be an access road coming across the dam and then going down to the treatment plant area. We're proposing to construct four sand filters. Each one will handle 25,000 gallons, so we will initially have a 100,000 gallon capacity. For your current population we are estimating your flows to be in the 75,000 gallon range. We are also allowing space for two more 25,000 gallon filters. This is for additional homes or if you want to add another subdivision to your system. Before discharging into the creek, the effluent will undergo an ultraviolet disinfection step.

Electrical connection options
	Options for powering the effluent pump
TR: Our primary option is to connect directly to the homeowner's electric meter base. We are biding out what we consider to be probably the worst case scenario for the district, that is, the most costly. We can obtain power for the system directly from the meter base. What makes this option expensive is that AUE will not let us connect to a single-lug meter base. Since most meter bases we'll encounter are single-lug, a large number of meter bases will need to be upgraded. And that is expensive. That is our worst case scenario. If we do come off a homeowner's meter base, we will most likely mount the control panel for the pump on posts in the yard. Most homeowners will probably find this unattractive.
TR: Option 2 for providing electric power for the effluent pump is voluntary and requires a signed easement. The homeowner provides an electrical connection complete with a disconnect on the side of the house near where the STEP tank will be installed. The easement allows us to attach the control panel to your house, rather than mounting it on posts in the yard. That way you don't have to worry about mowing around it or looking at it. This option will also save the district money because we won't have to upgrade your electric meter. So, if you have room in your electrical panel for an extra circuit breaker to install a dedicated circuit, this is probably the way to go.
TR: Option 3 is to connect the STEP tank to an existing circuit currently used to operate an existing aerator. So if you already have an existing, dedicated electrical line providing electricity for an aerator, our contractor's electrician will take a look and make sure it meets our specs. If it does, we'll use that electrical line. This will save the district money and work.

Lawyer’s Presentation
PWSD#13 attorney Bob Sweeney began by commenting on the anonymous letter received by some district residents. He said that the Dortch decision mentioned in the letter had been overruled by a Missouri Supreme Court case (Lake Tishomingo Property Owners Ass’n v. Cronin) in 1984. Therefore, any conclusions based on the Dortch case are wrong. 

Attorney Sweeney said that his primary purpose in speaking was to address the easement issue. RS: One requirement of an effluent  sewer system is the need for electricity for the pump at each residence. The district is asking you to voluntarily provide ownership interest to the district, so electricity is available to operate the system. For this reason the district board is requesting that you execute these easements. The downside of not granting the easement, is that the district has to take the electricity from the meter base. No one is really interested in doing that because it runs up the cost of everything. 
RS: The easements have been written to be as least intrusive as possible. We've spent a lot of time making sure they were worded properly and they did intrude as little as possible on your ownership interest. However, as indicated, there is an absolute necessity to get an electrical source to the pump so the process can work. 

Questions from audience
[Questions and answers are here]

Conclusion
MM: You've been very, very kind. We'll be here for more questions. Look at the construction drawings on the wall; give us your questions on cards. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Adjournment
The meeting ended at 12:35 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Rich Hirsch
Recording Secretary

Approved this 13th day of May 2009.

___________________________	_________________________________
Secretary	Chairman
April 11, 2009