PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY DISTRICT #13
Minutes of the August 12, 2009
Regular Session of the Board of Trustees

The Board of Directors of Public Water District #13, Jefferson County Missouri met in regular session at 7:07 p.m. on August 12, 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
	Rich Hirsch	Present
	Rick Lippitt	Present
	John Hindrichs	Present
	Ken Jost	Arrived at 7:34 p.m.

Also in attendance were Janet Hirsch (JWH, LTPOA Board member), Tim Robbs (TR, Taylor Eng.), and Bob Sweeney (RS, PWSD #13 attorney).
Approval of Agenda
Motion was made by Rick Lippitt and seconded by John Hindrichs to accept the agenda. On voice vote, all Directors were in favor of accepting the agenda.

Approval of Minutes of Past Meetings
The Minutes of the July 8, 2009 regular session meeting were emailed to the Directors prior to the meeting. Motion was made by John Hindrichs to approve the Minutes as written. Second was by Rick Lippitt. On voice vote, the Minutes were approved.
Treasurer’s Report
Two bills from Taylor Engineering:
	 July 1,	$10,265.56	Design 96.602% complete.
	August 1, 	$  2,383.53	Design 98% complete
Reminder statement from Midwest Assistance Center we owe:
	$3500 (original bill for environmental report from Apr 16, 2007)
Bank statement received $1 in account.

Old Business
Brunjes/collection agency harassment problem
MM related that on July 7, 2009 she received a harassing phone call from Dana Boyce of Randall & Richards, a collection agency located in Tucson AZ. The agent threatened to file a law suit in county court for nonpayment of services. The agent said he was acting on behalf of our previous engineer, William Brunjes. MM explained to the agent that the District currently has no funds and that Mr. Brunjes would be compensated for his efforts at a future date. She also explained that Mr. Brunjes was aware of these facts when he entered into the agreement with the District. 
	Apparently this explanation was not believed or was disregarded, because on July 30, 2009, MM received another harassing phone call from another Randall & Richards' agent. [A recording of that call can be heard at http://www.laketishomingo.com/pwsd13/randall_rant.wav -- RH]. 
	Possibly the most distressing aspect of the last call was the threat by the agent to ruin MM's personal credit rating.
	Responding to a request from the Board, the District's attorney, Bob Sweeney, drafted a letter to be sent to Mr. Brunjes asking that MM's harassment stop. A copy of that letter is attached to these Minutes.
	Motion made by John Hindrichs to send the letter to Mr. Brunjes. Motion seconded by Rich Hirsch. Motion passed. 
RH suggested informing Donna Martin (USDA-RD) and Traci Newberry (MDNR) of MM's harassment, if it would not adversely affect Brunjes compensation or a possible harassment case.
	RS indicated that he did not think it would affect our bargaining position with Mr. Brunjes nor the harassment issue.
	RS: I believe there should be consequences to bad behavior. So Donna and Traci should be informed of this issue.

WWTP & collection system design plans -- status report
TR: Plans are in for review. We haven't heard anything recently from DNR or USDA-RD.
RH: In going through the plans that show the lateral line routes and STEP tank positions, I noticed that some of the drawings are not up to date. When I went around with you (TR), you made copious notes and some of the drawings do not reflect those notes. I'll have to go through the plans and determine which ones I think will need to be updated. Then I'll let you know.
Funding Update--New cost estimate
TR: At the request of Donna, I did a new cost estimate. I tried to tie it to the estimate I gave to Traci when we requested additional grant money a few months ago. There developed a funding gap between MDNR and USDA-RD. Donna indicated a funding gap was bad, so I adjusted the new cost estimate so "everything fits." And I threw in some unit prices in case Donna wants those in the future. 
	One difference between the new cost estimate and the old is that the previous estimate had $1500 per household for all electrical connections. The new estimate has $1500 for the electrical connection if the homeowners did not return their electrical easement agreement. I also took out the cost for the fourth recirculating sand filter and the cost to connect the five homes in Tishomingo Forest.
TR: When I asked Traci if it was a problem that the cost estimate for MDNR did not match the estimate for USDA-RD, she said that she was satisfied with the previous estimate and that the numbers would change on bid day anyway. The actual grant amount will not be determined until bids come in. So we do not need to rework our estimate for MDNR.
TR: Traci also said not to worry about bids; everything we've had is coming in way lower right now.
RH: Is a $72 user fee still reasonable with this new cost estimate?
TR: Yes, with these numbers I'm right in there on Donna's old budget.
TR: One of the biggest differences between our cost estimate and Mr. Brunjes' is engineering costs. He had $600,000 to $700,000. Swap that over into construction and you get that extra little kick we definitely need. 
Loss of rural sewer grant funding
RH read an email from Traci (7/27/2009) indicating that DNR's commitment to provide a Rural Sewer Grant to PWSD #13 has expired. This represents approximately $350,000 of grant funding. PWSD #13 may be placed back on the grant list based on its readiness to proceed once the plans and specs are approved.
RH: Should we worry about dropping off the rural sewer grant list?
TR: I don't think so. We have everything submitted for the construction permit and once we answer MDNR's comments, we should be put back on the grant list.
RH: Can the rural sewer grant funds be used to pay for homeowner electrical connections?
TR: It's MDNR money and so it is likely that it can't be used for electrical connections.
Electrical Easement update
MM: At this time we have received 144 electrical easement agreements.
Letter to homeowners telling of large charge for connecting to meter base
RH: There has been much discussion in the last few months about the need to provide an electrical circuit at every home to power the effluent pump. The circuit can either be provided by the homeowner or the District. Recently, Tim suggested that it may be time to send out the letter emphasizing that if a homeowner doesn't provide his own electrical circuit, the District will install the circuit and bill the homeowner the actual cost of installation. This cost will be substantial, since the District will install the circuit coming off the house's electric meter base. [This will be expensive because AUE will require replacing the electric meter base. -- RH]
	RH read the draft of a letter written by RH and JWH. Changes were suggested by the group. RH said he will modify the letter to reflect the comments.
TR: If the District electrician installs the electric circuit off of the meter base, the homeowner will be charged the actual cost. We expect an average charge to be about $1500, but it may be more or less depending on the difficulty of installation. Our onsite inspector will keep track of how much to bill the homeowner.
Access road to WWTP
Access over dam -- response of dam experts (RH) 
RH: I've included the opinions of our three dam experts about delivering concrete and rock over the dam embankment in the attached document. Based on their opinions I believe we can say that it could be done, but it's probably better if we don't have to.
Access from Regina Rd. (RS) 
RS: The owner of the property adjacent to the WWTP site is Chuck Telle, who is my neighbor. I basically explained to Chuck the situation. He is aware of the project and was very enthusiastic. He's very proud of the existing road. There are two routes to the WWTP site; one goes over a low-water bridge, the other over a bridge made out of a box car. Chuck felt that the route with the low-water bridge route would need the least work to make usable. The road was overgrown, but seemed substantial. We did not talk dollars and cents. He said it all comes down to money. 
KJ: Mr. Telle owns all the property between Regina Rd and the WWTP?
RS: There is one piece of property that the road crosses that Chuck does not own. But Chuck has assured me that the owner will grant whatever access rights are necessary.
MM: Shouldn't we be getting a permanent access easement?
RS: A permanent access easement would be better than a temporary easement, but will probably be more costly. 
RS: I think the next step is for our engineer to inspect the road to see how suitable it is. I'll contact Chuck and see when he is available to show the road.
Tishomingo Forest sewer service -- status report
MM: We have received filled-in forms from two Tishomingo Forest (TF) subdivision residents. Both chose to not join the Lake Tishomingo community sewer system. Therefore, the five homes in TF will not be included in phase one of the project. 
Bond counsel update
RS: We did receive the bond counsel opinion and we are good to go. It was forwarded to Donna by the bond counsel in July.
New Business
There was no new business.
Attorney’s Report
There was no attorney's report
Engineer’s Report
There was no engineer's report
Adjournment
There being no other formal business to come before the Board, a motion to adjourn was made by John Hindrichs and seconded by Ken Jost at 8:45 p.m. Motion passed with all Directors in approval.

Respectfully Submitted,

Rich Hirsch
Recording Secretary

Approved this 9th day of September 2009.

___________________________	_________________________________
Secretary	Chairman
August 28, 2009