Sanitary and Stormwater District Board

CITY OF HOBART SANITARY DISTRICT/STORM WATER BOARD MEETING MEETING OF November 23, 2021 Mr. Fulton called the meeting of the Hobart Sanitary District to order at 5:00 p.m. Members in attendance: Mr. James Mandon, Mr. Joe Broadaway, Mr. Dave Hill and Councilman Mark Kopil. Also, in attendance: Clerk Treasurer Deborah Longer, Attorney Heather McCarthy, Attorney Jim Meyer, Mr. Tim Kingsland, Mrs. Kelly Smith, Mr. Ty Lawson, Mr. Phil Schoon, Mr. Sean Mikos, BF&S; Mr. Jake Dammarell, BF&S; Mr. Andrew Beison, Gasvoda; Mr. Akraphat Sriplo, Mrs. Thitiarat Sriplo, and Lorie Leonard, HSD Secretary. Attendees via phone: Mr. Coilin McConnell, Baxter & Woodman; Mr. Jack Eskin, Delta Institute; Megan Lewis, Delta Institute and Chas Reilley, NWI Times PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The Board was presented the minutes from the October 26, 2021 meeting. Mr. Broadaway made a motion to approve the minutes as presented, seconded by Mr. Mandon. All aye, motion carried. (4/0) APPROVAL OF AGENDA: The Board was presented the agenda for the meeting. Mr. Fulton stated that Mr. Gralik requested to add an item to the agenda, which is a potential project for the HSD property on 37th Avenue under the City Engineer’s report. Mr. Mandon made a motion to approve the agenda as amended, seconded by Mr. Hill. All aye, motion carried. (4/0) Mr. Gralik arrived at 5:05 p.m. AKRAPHAT & THITIRAT SRIPLO – 953 Fleming Street: Mr. & Mrs. Sriplo approached the Board to request additional financial assistance. There was a brief discussion of how the amount paid to the residents has been calculated. It was also mentioned that the cap had been raised for some of the residents who have already made requests to the Board. Mr. Gralik mentioned that the neighbors are all talking with each other and since we agreed to raise the cap for others, they feel the cap should be raised for them also. Mr. Hill stated that he thinks we need to be consistent across the board. Mr. Fulton questioned if each of the residents had submitted multiple quotes. Mr. Gralik and Mrs. Leonard confirmed that each of the residents had submitted multiple quotes and that all of them have been reviewed by Mr. Gralik. Mr. Fulton then stated that the we agreed to pay 80% of the lowest quote. Mr. Broadaway mentioned that the issue had been discussed that residents were having getting the contractors to respond to complete the work. There was a brief discussion of how to resolve the issue. Mr. Fulton asked legal to advise. Attorney Meyer stated that the Board could amend the formula to meet this special circumstance, and then implement that amended formula. Mr. Gralik stated that raising the cap to $11k that would let us pay the difference to all of the Fleming Street residents that we have not done so yet. Mr. Hill made a motion to raise the cap for the 80/20 sanitary replacement project of the Army Corp of Engineers 2020 Water Quality 219 project to $11,000, seconded by Mr. Mandon. All aye, motion carried. (5/0) Clerk/Treasurer Deb Longer, requested that all of the residents who were issued checks already receive a letter with copy to her office, stating why they are HSD Minutes November 23, 2021 Page 1 receiving the additional funds so they have a record on file for the State Board of Accounts. Mrs. Leonard agreed to send the letters. PUBLIC HEARING / STORM WATER RESOLUTION 2021-02: Mr. Fulton gave an overview to the Board of the proposed system of rates and charges to support the operation and maintenance of the City of Hobart’s Storm Water system. Mr. Fulton opened the public meeting at 5:18 p.m. Mr. Fulton asked if any one wishes to speak for or against the proposed rates to approach the Board and state their name and address. He called for the second and third, and final, time if anyone would like to address the Board for or against the proposed rates for the City of Hobart Storm Water management system. Being no one wished to address the Board during the public hearing, Mr. Fulton closed the hearing at 5:19 p.m. Attorney Meyer asked for all written comments to be entered into the record. Clerk/Treasurer, Deb Longer stated that no written comments had been received. Mr. Fulton then stated to the Board that approval of the Storm Water Confirming Resolution was needed. The resolution is confirming the proposed establishment of new revised user rates and charges for the support of the operation and maintenance of the Storm Water District and recommending the adoption of the user rates and charges by ordinance. He noted once the Board approves the resolution, it will be presented to the Common Council for discussion and consideration. Mr. Hill made a motion to adopt the Confirming Resolution for the new Storm Water rates to be presented to the Common Council for approval, seconded by Mr. Gralik. All aye, motion carried. (5/0) CITY ENGINEER REPORT: Mr. Gralik started his report stating that we already took care of the first item which was 935 and 955 Fleming Street residents. His next item is regarding Absolute Pipe who is cleaning, root cutting and televising the list of pipes that Red Zone has in their scope. What we have encountered is that Red Zone has not been able to televise some pipes because they are under water because a pipe that Red Zone had previously televised, now has root and sediment problems and is backing water up so the camera is under water, so they are having to clean pipes that are outside of Red Zone scope in order to clean pipes that are in Red Zone’s scope. Also, John Dubach has called Mr. Gralik about a couple of pipes that had previously been televised by Red Zone that are not flowing, or 30% blocked with sediment, wanting to know if they should clean them again. Mr. Gralik stated that he thinks we should go ahead and have them cleaned, but wanted to bring it to the Board for their approval. There are two options, either amend Red Zone’s scope to include the extra pipes, or deal directly with the contractor, Absolute Pipe, that is already here and have them invoice us for this type of work. Mr. Gralik then stated that he thinks we should have a new contract directly with Absolute Pipe to do the work, rather than running it through Red Zone. There was a brief discussion of the details of a new contract with Absolute Pipe. The consensus of the Board was to move forward with a direct contract with Absolute Pipe. Mr. Gralik agreed to work on the contract and hopes to have a contract to be approved at the next meeting. HSD Minutes November 23, 2021 Page 2 Next, Mr. Gralik stated that he has a proposed contract with Gasvoda for the SCADATA system, which has been a long time coming. Attorney Meyer spoke up that the contract has been pending so long that Indiana law has changed, which includes a contractor has to produce documentation demonstrating that it has a drug testing program/drug-free work place program which is consistent with the requirements of Indiana law. There was a brief discussion of the changes in Indiana law that are need to be included in the contract. None of the changes would affect the dollar amount, scope or schedule of the contract. There was a brief discussion of the details of the contract. Mr. Gralik recommended the Board approve the Gasvoda contract contingent upon the legal department’s review. Mr. Broadaway and Mr. Hill made a motion to authorize the chairman to sign the contract pending review by the legal department and additions/corrections to make it compliant with current Indiana law, seconded by Mr. Mandon. All aye, motion carried. (5/0) Mr. Gralik stated that the church across the street from our property on 37th Avenue is building a new sanctuary, such that they need two fire hydrants that would be fed by an 8-inch water main. It appears that New Chicago Water cannot supply the water sufficient for our fire department to certify those hydrants for the church. They have approached the Mayor for any assistance the City may be able to provide. We share several hundred feet of frontage with the church on 37th Avenue, so the question is, would the District be willing to participate in the water main extension just for our frontage to this property, so that the property that we are trying to sell for development would have a 12-inch water main that would provide ample water. There was a general discussion of the impact of water main on the property value. HSD COORDINATOR REPORT Mr. Kingsland stated that the contract with Baxter & Woodman had been presented to the Board and asked Mr. Eskin to update the Board on the 10% fee increase request. Mr. Eskin informed the Board that Baxter & Woodman and Cardno have submitted an updated schedule of prices, a memo explanation, and an updated design-build contract for the Board’s consideration. Mr. Eskin then went on to explain that the cost increases were due to increases in staffing, fuel and materials costs, which led to the increase of the contract. Mr. Hill responded that he has not experienced any circumstance where a bidder or contractor has been asked to hold a price for over a year, and that a 10% increase is reasonable, considering the market we are in. Mr. Hill made a motion to award the contract for the Restoration of Duck Creek Tributary in the amount of $226,160, seconded by Mr. Mandon. All aye, motion carried. (5/0) LIFT STATION UPDATES / FLOW REPORT: The Board members received via email the monthly report for October 2021; the Main Lift Station recorded 131,017,000 gallons of sewage pumped to the Gary Sanitary District in October 2021; this was an increase of 66,219,000 gallons pumped in September 2021. The average daily flow for the month was 4.22 mgd. The White Oak Conservancy District readings from October 1st through the 31st were a total of 4,492,500 gallons of flow. The average daily flow recorded for the 31-day period was 144,919 gallons. Precipitation measured at the Main Lift Station totaled 8.92 inches for the month. This was above the 10-year average of 4.89 inches for the month of October. Total for the year is 36.30 inches. HSD Minutes November 23, 2021 Page 3 SANITARY REPORT: No report. LEGAL REPORT: Attorney Meyer confirmed that a letter was sent to the White Oak Conservancy District as a final attempt to arrive at a mutually acceptable resolution of the delinquent fees owed and changing the methodology for HSD invoicing WOCD going forward. Attorney Meyer stated that he would forward the letter to Mrs. Leonard to forward on to the Board. There was a brief discussion of WOCD. Attorney Meyer also confirmed that a letter has also been sent to St. Mary’s Medical Center requesting to resolve the issues there. FINANCIAL REPORT/INVOICE APPROVAL: Mr. Fulton stated that the waste water billing department requested the Board adopt a motion to allow them to re-institute liens for non-payment that had been stopped due to Covid-19. There was a brief discussion of shut-offs and liens for non-payment. Mr. Gralik made a motion to allow the waste water billing office to reinstitute liens for non-payment of service, seconded by Mr. Broadaway. All aye, motion carried. (5/0) The SRF Bond Claims list was presented to the Board for the month of December 2021. The Bond and Interest invoice submitted for the December 2021 payment total is $19,551. Mr. Broadaway made a motion to approve, seconded by Mr. Gralik. All aye, motion carried. (5/0) The Financial Report was presented for the month of October 2021. The month began with a balance of $4,036,202.40; total revenues of $869.131.52 and total disbursements of $541,692.15 to end the month with a balance of $5,608,556.91. The Sanitary invoices submitted for November 2021 total $243,781.92, Storm Water invoices submitted total $44,182.42. Mr. Gralik made a motion to approve the invoices as presented, seconded by Mr. Hill. All aye, motion carried. (5/0) GENERAL DISCUSSION: Mr. Gralik stated that he had intended to add this item to the agenda under his report, then thanked the Board for allowing to add it under the General Discussion. Mr. Gralik then stated that there had been a progress meeting on the force main and lift station project today, and would like the Board’s consensus to move forward with the following the existing route of the force main, which Mr. Mikos will be explaining to the Board. Mr. Mikos approached the Board while handing out a copy of a diagram of the existing and alternate routing for the force main. Prior to presenting the routes, Mr. Mikos made mention to the Board that while reviewing the infrastructure at the main lift station the gauges for the discharge suction side of the lift station seem to be inconsistent. Mr. Mikos has reached out to Gasvoda for a quote to replace the gauges as they do affect the design calculations. Mr. Gralik spoke up to state that the intent would be that we would re-use these gauges after the lift station upgrade. Mr. Mikos then went on to say that he will be working with Attorney McCarthy next week on the GSD agreement. He went on to say a contractor meeting was held on October 16th, proposals are due December 8th. Mr. Mikos requested Board approval to hold a public hearing to meet all of the general needs of the PER and SRF in December, with a meeting in January. HSD Minutes November 23, 2021 Page 4 Mr. Mikos then went on to show the Board using the diagram where there may be parcels with issues with using the existing route of the force main, as well as explained where there may be issues with the alternate route on the diagram. Mr. Mikos gave a brief update of the two routes including any issues with rights-of-way and utilities. Mr. Mikos stated that their recommendation at this time would be to follow the existing force main. There was a brief discussion of the details of the route, such as the difference in the length of the routes, depth and the distance of the new route from the existing route. There was a brief discussion of the issues of the current main and the purpose of the new main, such as breaks, excessive flow, and maintenance as well as avoiding an emergency situation. Mr. Mandon stated concerns of the distance between the two mains if less than 10 feet between the current main and suggested using the alternate route. There was a brief discussion. Mr. Gralik clarified, that the decision was to follow the existing route but try to find any points where there would not be separation of at least 10-feet, and find another solution, such as re-routing or buying more right-of-way. He then asked Mr. Mikos if he could start the surveys and locates and then come back to the second HDS meeting in December, then we can decide the actual route from there. There was a brief discussion of the gauges that needed to be purchased for the main lift station and whether or not the purchase was ready to be approved by the Board, and how quickly they need to be replaced. Mr. Mikos agreed to get two additional quotes for the next HSD meeting. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further comments or discussion, Mr. Hill made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Gralik. All ayes, motion carried. (5/0) Meeting adjourned at 7:02 p.m. _______________________________ _____________________________ Robert Fulton, President Lorie Leonard HSD Minutes November 23, 2021 Page 5