PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY DISTRICT #13
Minutes of the November 11, 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 7:15 p.m. on November 11, 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	Present

Also in attendance were Janet Hirsch (JWH, LTPOA Board member) and Tim Robbs (TR, Taylor Eng.).

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 October 20, 2009 regular session meeting were emailed to the Directors prior to the meeting. Motion was made by Ken Jost to approve the Minutes as written. Second was by John Hindrichs. On voice vote, the Minutes were approved.

Treasurer’s Report
Marilyn reported that no new bills have been received.

Old Business
WWTP & collection system design plans -- status report
TR reported that he had revised the "plans and specs" documents based on comments made by Traci Newberry (MDNR) and the MDNR engineers (see attached letter of 11/10/2009). TR also revised and resubmitted the "plans and specs" documents based on USDA-RD comments.

TR handed out a revised cost estimate for the sewer project. 
About the estimate, TR said "We pared down our cost estimate quite a bit. We don't have as much fluff in there as we did. We're still pretty realistic."
TR explained some of the revisions made to the cost estimate:
1) Base bid tab
a)	Went from a lump sum bid tab to a unit price bid tab [bid tab = bid tabulation: shows each bidder's bid amount for each pay item in a contract]. 
b)	Added "mobilization & staging area"
c)	Added "access road improvements and construction"
d)	Added "electrical service connections"
e)	Added "abandon existing septic tanks"
2) Alternates
a)	Added a fourth Recirculating Sand Filter (RSF)
b)	Provided an engineer field office

The USDA-RD review engineer came up with an idea of using unit prices to do contract price adjustments. There were nine "deduct" items listed. 

KJ: I don't see a deduct for reusing a homeowner's septic tank.
TR: I don't see that here either; I'll have to add that.

TR: The last page is the proposed project budget. 
JWH: "Legal and Bond" is $100,000. Why is that so high? Is that realistic?
TR: I don't know. Bob will have to tell us that. I don't know what costs are involved when the bonds are sold.
JWH: But we only sell them to the USDA. It should be a single transaction.
MM: We'll have to ask Bob that question.
TR: If we compare our total funding, $4,176,720, to our total project costs, $4,294,975, we come up with a shortfall of -$118,255. I think these numbers are about as accurate as we can get it right now.

Electrical Circuit Issues 
There was a discussion of the electrical circuit needed to power the STEP tank effluent pump. 
TR: Notice budget item #12, which is $357,000 for 238 electrical service connections at $1500 each. This is one of the biggest expenditures we have that could possibly help to get us back in budget. 

TR: Yesterday, I talked to an estimator from DeSoto Electric [hereafter referred to as DE]. I explained to DE how we were planning to get handle the electrical connection. [We get as many homeowners as possible to install their own electrical circuits. If the homeowner has installed his own circuit, we connect the pump to it. If the homeowner did not install his own circuit, the District's contractor will connect to the homeowner's outside meter base and bill the homeowner the actual cost to connect to the pump.] DE said it would scare him to death to bid on a job like that. 

TR: First problem is that if the electric meter needs to be upgraded, since AUE is involved the electricity to the house will have to be shut off for at least a day. Will the contractor bring in a generator while the power is off? What's going on inside the house during this time? [Liability issues do not allow the District's contractor to enter the house.]

TR: The second problem is that most electricians would not agree to do a job like this unless they could go inside the house, because "once our fingers touch this stuff, we're liable." And the District would be liable too.  

TR: Also, we'd have to contact Jefferson County and find out what upgrades we'd need to provide. DE said it would be an absolute nightmare to bid the job as we currently have it planned and $1500 per house may be too low, considering all the unknowns that need to be taken into account.

The New Plan
TR: DE's suggestion is to have all of the homeowners install their own electrical circuit or we skip them. This will have a number of positive effects:
•	This limits the liability shared by the District and the contractor. 
•	The $357,000 earmarked for the electrical connection comes out of the budget, lowering our expected project cost. A lower project cost will translate to a lower user fee in the future.
•	This will bring project funding more in line with our expected costs. 
•	The homeowner can have his circuit installed more cheaply than the District can do it, because the District is required to pay prevailing wages. Again project cost will be reduced.
•	Bids will come in lower because uncertainty is removed. Contractors will be better able to estimate project cost. 

MM: Some will say the district promised them no connection fee, and that's still true; we're not charging a connection fee, but they will have to provide the electrical circuit for us. Also, I think we need to educate homeowners on how costly it is to join every other sewer district--much more that the $200 to $400 it will cost the average homeowner to install the circuit.
RL: Can we make a case that it's money that the homeowner will get back in some form at a future date? I know we have to start out charging $72 a month, but if the overall cost of the project is reduced because of this, the homeowner will ultimately benefit and save money. Maybe that can take some of the sting out of it.
TR: Definitely. If we save a half million dollars not upgrading everyone's electricity, that'll make a big difference in the overall budget. 

TR: In terms of why the District has to have the homeowners pay to install the electric circuit, you tried to get a grant to pay for it and the grant fell thru.
MM: And AUE kicked us in the head by changing their regulations.
TR: For most homeowners it won't cost $1500. We can give some leeway as to where the disconnect needs to be installed. We can allow the homeowner to come out of the house right next to the electric service panel, rather than going thru the interior of the house and exiting the house right next to the tank. We'd prefer the disconnect be within sight of the STEP tank, but the homeowner can put the disconnect near the electric meter if they like. And DE was telling me that even if the inside service panel is full, they might be able to install a subpanel to get more slots without upgrading the main service panel. And if the homeowner wants to come off of the outside electric meter, they should be able to do that too.
RH: I don't think we should try to argue that this is not a connection fee. I think we just need to tell them this is the way it has to be and tell them why we have to do it this way.
TR: You can also tell them that MDNR funds won't pay to connect the sewer service line, but we have USDA-RD funds for that. But unfortunately, there aren't funds for installing the electrical circuit, so the homeowner will have to pay for that. 
RL: I think part of our case is that we're trying to get bids and with so many uncertainties, to protect himself, the bidder will have to bid high. If the homeowner installs his own electric circuit, the bids should be more reasonable because that uncertainty is removed. Any good businessman will bid more if there are uncertainties in what he is bidding on. The other part of the case is that the homeowner will pay a little more up front but it will save him money in the future.
TR: That's a very good point. You're protecting the public from these very high costs. It will cost less for a homeowner to find an electrician to install the circuit because the District by law has to pay prevailing wages to anyone it hires. 
TR: I still have to talk to Donna and see if she's agreeable to this way of handling the electrical connection problem. 
KJ: There will be a lot of people that will balk at the cost of installing their own electrical circuit.
TR: Well, if the homeowner doesn't do it and they get skipped, they'll be hit with the cost of paying for all of the equipment and still have to pay a percentage of the monthly user fee, since by District regulations and Lake Tishomingo Restrictions they must hook up to the sewer system if a sewer main line is within 300 feet of the house's service line.
MM: The people that will be hardest hit will be those on fixed income that have old homes and have had no electrical service upgrades. Of course, after the sewer is in, their houses will be worth much more. I think we need to explain to them that we can't get a rational bid without knowing what electrical connections are necessary and the cost of them per house.

Electrical Spec for Effluent Pump
RH: Tim, you need to send me a written copy of the electrical spec at some time in the near future. Some people are already asking for it. 
TR: Based on preliminary information from Orenco, we may need to specify a 30 amp circuit for the pump.
RH: That could be a serious problem.
TR:  I'll contact the pump manufacturer again before I write the spec for the circuit.

USDA-RD Checklist Items Pending
Donna's USDA-RD checklist from 10/20/2009 was discussed. 

JWH read her draft of the Proposed Operating Budget for the first two years of operation of the sewer system. The Board made suggestions and changes were made.

RH read his Sewer Use Ordinance draft. The Board made suggestions and changes were made. 

Other items:
Guide 64 – Right-of-Way.  Owner will need to provide certification of right-of-way and then attorney will need to provide right-of-way opinion.  Attorney needs to state all right-of-way has been obtained to construct proposed project.	0442-21rightofwaycertificate.pdf	BOD responsible
		0442-22rightofwayopinion.pdf	RS responsible

Electrical connections and drain outlets have been issues in past so recommend an inventory of houses be performed now.  Please make sure electric company agrees with the proposed electrical and they comply with electrical code.  Rural Development needs copy of the inventory of houses.  In addition, please provide assurance that design meets electrical company and code.
		electric company agrees with the proposed electrical	TR responsible
		electrical inventory -- no way to accomplish

Written Evidence of Acceptable Accounting System – example was provided previously.
		acceptableaccountingcertificationww.doc		MM & JWH responsible

CPA Engagement Letter – guidelines were previously provided.
		CPAengagement.doc				MM responsible

Bookkeeping Agreement – form previously provided must be executed and returned by bookkeeper.
		BOOKKEEPING AGREEMENT.doc		MM & JWH responsible

Final Contract Documents and Drawings (two sets) have been received – engineer.  Met with engineer on 10/7/09 and engineer is to resubmit.  Need all correspondence from DNR.		TR responsible

Need all addendums to engineering agreement.  Including addendum for geotechnical if applicable. 	TR

DNR construction permit – Engineer		TR responsible

User map with homes marked and corresponding user list – engineer.  Rural Development will perform physical inspection of homes just prior to authorization to bid.		TR & JWH responsible

Right-of-Way Color Coded Map received– Engineer (need to state if private easement, county, or  state right-of-way and temp easements must also be marked along with use of easement – main lines, electrical, etc.). 
	TR responsible

Preliminary Title Commitment, Treatment Site – commitment states no policy to be issued, but we still will need final copy of owner’s title policy prior to pre-construction conference.  Coverage must include cost of land and cost of improvements as bid on final.  	Done

Attorney’s Opinion on Adequacy of Insurance (list types and amounts – provided guidelines previously)
		insurancerequirements.doc		RS responsible

Missouri DNR Checklist Items Pending
Draft User Charge Ordinance 	JWH & TR responsible
Draft Sewer Use Ordinance		RH & TR responsible
Certificate of easements and real property acquisition		RS responsible

New Business
Election of Director for Subdistrict 5
Director for subdistrict 5 (SD5) is Rick Lippitt, who does not live within SD5. (Rick is serving out former director Henry Brym's term.) SD5's boundaries are Hillsboro-House Springs Road to the east and just beyond the Lake Tishomingo guard shack to the west. Since RL does not live within SD5, he cannot register with the County Clerk as a candidate for SD5. The opening will be advertised in The Countian -- Jefferson County.

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 Rick Lippitt and seconded by John Hindrichs at 8:53 p.m. Motion passed with all Directors in approval.

Respectfully Submitted,

Rich Hirsch
Recording Secretary

Approved this 9th day of December 2009.

___________________________	_________________________________
Secretary	Chairman
November 18, 2009