19 January 2006 Dearborn County Regional Sewer District Meeting Notes

19 January 2006 Dearborn County Regional Sewer District Meeting Notes

Present: Mike Hankins, Chairman, Greg Vollmer, Brett Fehrman, Dave Enzweiler, Rodney Dennerline, Barry Pruss, and Pat Holland.
Also present: Tom Quinn, Engineer, Doug Baer, Health Dept, and arriving later, Lisa Lehner, Att’y

Also present in the audience were: Jerry Jacobsen (SDRSD), Bob Hrezo (P.E.), Tom LaRosa (HVL), and Bryan Messmore (County Adm.)

1. John Kruse from the town of Sunman told the board that Sunman had discussed having a 5 mile radius CTA initially and was hoping t o coordinate their efforts with the county to serve the western side of Dearborn County. Hankins told him that they would need an interlocal agreement for collection, transport, and treatment options. Woolpert (see next item) will be studying county options and will include Sunman in the study. Hankins also recommended the IN Ass’n of Regional Sewer Districts as a source to help them set things up properly.

2. Woolpert Engineering was present to answer questions as Lisa Lehner went over their contract that was in 3 parts- the master agreement, Addendum 1 and Addendum 2.
Addendum 1 included the project scope, pricing, and details of the hours involved in each scheduled meeting. Addendum 2 included additional services and pricing- the so-called “extras” that the project may run into as it proceeds.
They needed a contact person who would be available during regular business hours and Hankins had discussed Bryan Messmore, Adm for the county, to serve as this. It would mean he has to attend meetings also. Messmore said he would be “honored” to do this. The contact person- Messmore- HAS COMPLETE AUTHORITY TO ACT ON BEHALF OF THE CLIENT TO DETERMONE CHANGES IN SCOPE OF THE CONTRACT. No mention of pay was discussed for Messmore’s services.
[NOTE: As Bryan Messmore is new to DCRSD he will need to be brought up to speed ASAP]Messmore was approved with Enzweiler objecting as he thought it should be a board member.
Other changes to the contract were discussed:
Volmer and Dennerline agreed that the board should be able to terminate the contract with sufficient notice as long as Woolpert is paid for services to that point.
Volmer also wanted the documents and plans to be the property of the DCRSD- “we paid for it; we should own it.”
Woolpert said DCRSD can have hard copies, but AutoCAD files, GIS, and digital files were not an option, as they were concerned they could be modified. [NOTE: There are ways to create digital files of this type that CANNOT be modified…]Hankins questioned reasonable attorney fees and Dennerline asked if that was Chicago prices or Lawrenceburg prices. (Laughter)
Field collection data will NOT be given to the DCRSD.
As to Addendum 2- no work will be done at those rates unless Messmore issues a written memorandum to continue at those rates.
Lehner then told the board they could approve the contract contingent on Council funding on Tues and appoint Hankins to sign or wait till the next board meeting.
Board unanimously agreed to let Hankins sign, contingent on funding and Lehner adding language to address their previous concerns. [NOTE: this also depends on Woolpert’s att’y agreeing to Lehner’s changes.]

Woolpert scheduled a kick-off meeting for 1 PM Feb 27th in the Commissioners Meeting Room for Lehner, Messmore, 2 board members and any County officials who wish to attend.

3. Hankins and any Board members wishing to attend go to Council next Tues for the funding request.

4. Application to IDEM not approved yet per Tom Quinn because of technicalities in the form for Cole Lane and Stewart St. He also has not had time to get with Aurora regarding the Interceptor there. [NOTE: It is not clear what Quinn IS doing.]

5. Lehner and Brett Fehrman went to SDRSD to present their request for DCRSD to become a non-voting member of the SDRSD. They would not be privy to any executive sessions as that member.

SDRSD will meet in executive session to discuss this.

There were discussions back and forth with Jerry Jacobsen at this point. Hankins stated DCRSD wanted a non-voting seat as a step to becoming a full-fledged member. Jacobsen noted they hoped they would become a member.
Lehner stated that the PERCEPTION that DCRSD is sitting at the table with SDRSD will help DCRSD with St. Leon negotiations later.

Dennerline stated that they “didn’t want to weasel in, they just wanted to be privy to SDRSD agendas and be in the know.” He thought DCRSD could have helped with Aurora issues. [NOTE: HOW?]

Jacobsen noted that Dennis Feichtner is pretty much an open book- they only need to ask him for info.
Dennerline stated again- all we want is info.
Jacobsen said- it’s open to you already. You can have a liaison there as long as you do it out in the open. SDRSD meets on the 2nd Tues at 10AM. Hankins said someone would be there.
[NOTE: It seems like DCRSD wants something for nothing. And they have surrounded the 2 big public districts and LMH’s private one. (No telling what VRUC’s status is in this) By surrounding the CTA’s of these districts, DCRSD can effectively cut off any expansion of those districts and control them and any further development in the county. To ask for non- voting status means they do not have to buy into the district – to invest in it they way L-bg, G-dale, Aurora, and Seagrams did. While they have been smart legally- it’s pretty clear that this is a power issue- and not just about sewers, but about what sewers can mean in terms of infrastructure needs for development. Pretty arrogant for a group that hasn’t been able to achieve even their first objective- getting High Ridge Estates cleaned up and served. SDRSD needs to stand their ground, make the county step up to the plate, and become an EQUAL player.]

6. Hankins noted that Council rec’d their letter requesting reappointment of Greg Volmer. This should be done on Tues. [NOTE: Per Charlie Fehrman, Council has rec’d info on two other people who are interested in the spot and they have concerns with Volmer’s attendance. Council needs to look at each member’s attendance records as comparison, if that is an issue. A board that meets twice a month is likely to have some issues on attendance, particularly with vacations, being on call, and work schedules. Volmer has an extensive knowledge of sewer issues, equipment, and technical input. If Council chooses to replace him- it would be irresponsible to do it with someone who has less expertise. Debate and discussion are important components of all boards.]

7. By-laws were approved to have 4 consecutive meetings missed as grounds for terminating a board member. No more than 8 can be missed in a calendar year either.
Per- diems of $50 per day max were included. Travel expenses can be used as the state’s employee amounts. These payments all come out of the DCRSD budget, which Holland noted was also for their studies etc.

8.Per Lehner the IDEM IDEM received letter of territorial expansion and they won’t get anything back- it’s that simple. This supercedes existing CTAs per Lehner. “If we come within 300 ft of an existing CTA they have to connect to us.” [NOTE: SDRSD and St. Leon won’t appreciate this.]

9. It was agreed to let Woolpert proceed with their study before making any decisions on Moore’s Hill needs.

10. Transcriptionist is leaving- so they will need to find a new one.

11. Comments on Guilford, SR1 Corridor, and Bright for sewer service, noting it was a 15-20 year project. Dennerline said there will be a lot of pressure from development along SR1. Nothing new on VRUC – their official meeting is Jan 30.- at least one of the so-called official meetings. Hankins said they should let VRUC go “until they kiss and make-up or kill each other.”

12. Jacobsen asked if they were going to share Woolpert’s info with SDRSD. Are you going to direct Woolpert and prioritize the study? They invited Jacobsen to the kick-off meeting and noted that information was a two way street- a gentle nudge to get DCRSD onto the SDRSD board as non- voting member AGAIN.

Meeting adjourned 8:40 PM

Christine Brauer Mueller
Lawrenceburg Township