Sanitary and Stormwater District Board

CITY OF HOBART SANITARY DISTRICT/STORM WATER BOARD MEETING MEETING OF February 27, 2024 Mr. Mandon called the meeting of the Hobart Sanitary District to order at 5:24 p.m. Members in attendance: Mr. Larry Gutierrez, Mr. Phil Gralik, and Councilman Mark Kopil. Also, in attendance, Attorney Heather McCarthy, Attorney Jim Meyer, Mr. Tim Kingsland, Mr. Phil Schoon, Mr. Ty Lawson, Mr. Jake Ballah; BF&S, Mr. Jeff Strickly, SMMC, Mrs. Lorie Leonard, and Mrs. Lena Triana. Attended via Phone: Mr. Bob Fulton Absent: Mr. Joe Broadaway This meeting started late due to audio issues on Zoom. Mr. Broadaway joined the meeting but left when there was no audio. Mr. Fulton continued via Zoom by calling into the meeting on speakerphone. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The Board was presented with the February 13, 2024 meeting minutes. Mr. Gutierrez made a motion to approve the minutes, as presented, seconded by Mr. Gralik. Mrs. Triana gave a roll call for each Board member to cast their vote. All aye, motion carried. (4/0) Mr. Fulton voted via Zoom. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: The Board was presented the agenda for the meeting. Mr. Kingsland asked to add St. Mary’s Outpatient Center’s sanitary tap to the agenda. Mr. Gralik made a motion to approve the agenda as amended, seconded by Mr. Gutierrez. Mrs. Triana gave a roll call for each Board member to cast their vote. All aye, motion carried. (4/0) Mr. Fulton voted via Zoom. MAIN LIFT STATION & FORCE MAIN PROJECT UPDATE: Mr. Ballah, of BF&S approached the Board with the design/engineering update of the Sanitary Sewer improvement project. Mr. Ballah stated there was a major leap forward today to the power supply at the lift station. NIPSCO’s transformer has been installed ahead of schedule. There is continued progress in obtaining the metering pedestals and switchgear to ensure power is available when needed. There are ongoing submittal reviews for interior items at the lift station, such as the make-up air unit, refrigerator piping, and the split system air conditioner. Mr. Ballah then proceeded with a construction update. He reported that the forcemain installation continues via open-cut and will continue passing through Hansen Blvd at the end of this week, and early next week. The City of Hobart is notifying residents about their restricted access to Hillman Heights. Kokosing also has a crew in Gary installing Structure 100. Grimmer Construction completed the directional drill under Lake George and passed pressure testing. Overall, the drill was a success, however we have observed settlement on either side of the lake on Cleveland Avenue. BF&S is currently working on a plan to repair any damaged HSD Minutes February 27, 2024 Page 1 utilities and restore the roadway. Over the next few weeks, progress will continue on Old Ridge Road, and Grimmer is expected to complete their portion of the work on this project. Mr. Ballah informed the Board that Kokosing will be utilizing Xylem Smartball Technology to locate a small leak discovered in the new forcemain during pressure testing. The Smartball Technology can provide data such as air pockets in the pipe, leak detection, and metal condition. Due to the Smartball already being on-site, the HSD can utilize the same testing on the existing forcemain with about a $3,000 discount. The total projected cost is about $47,000. Mr. Ballah asked the Board if they would like to proceed with the testing. After a brief discussion, the Board requested that sample data from the system be presented at the next meeting for them to review to determine if the data would be of value. Mr. Ballah agreed to return with more information. Next, Mr. Ballah, stated that Kokosing is currently projecting to be complete with their road work along Old Ridge Road in mid-April. Due to the multiple road construction projects in the City beginning this spring, the project could be accelerated by working Saturdays at an additional cost of about $3,500 per Saturday. After a brief discussion, there was a consensus among the Board members to initiate a change order to include Kokosing working Saturdays for the additional cost. PERFORMANCE PIPELINING CHANGE ORDER #2: Mr. Fulton explained the need for the change order for the sanitary sewer relining project due to the work being done between American Water and Dyer Construction on 3rd Street that appears to have caused or exacerbated the poor conditions of the laterals. PPI was originally required to clean and re-televise 72 sanitary laterals on 3rd Street per the project. The cleaning and televising of the laterals was completed in November. When PPI returned to the site to begin the lateral lining it was discovered some laterals that were previously passable, had collapsed. PPI needed to re-televise 34 laterals along portions of 3rd Street to determine how many laterals needed repairs and their locations. Mr. Gutierrez was not in full agreement with the justification of the change order but made a motion to approve Performance Pipelining Change Order #2 for $11,322.00, seconded by Mr. Gralik. Mrs. Triana gave a roll call for each Board member to cast their vote. All aye, motion carried. (4/0) Mr. Fulton voted via Zoom. 73RD AVENUE SEWER PROJECT DATA RELEASE: Mr. Fulton explained that MCD (Merrillville Conservancy District) requested the data collected by BF&S for the 73rd Avenue sewer project. BF&S requires a data release for the information to be shared with MCD. Mr. Gutierrez made a motion to approve the data release from BF&S to MCD, seconded by Mr. Gralik. Mrs. Triana gave a roll call for each Board member to cast their vote. All aye, motion carried. (4/0) Mr. Fulton voted via Zoom. HSD COORDINATOR: Mr. Kingsland stated that as required per the new Indiana STW Permit, the city is required to update its stormwater ordinance this year. The Board was given the ordinance to review and comment prior to the meeting. Mr. Kingsland recommended the Board’s approval. Attorney Meyer stated that a resolution was needed to go to the next City Council meeting for the Council to adopt the ordinance, once approved by the HSD. Mr. Fulton made a motion to adopt the Stormwater Ordinance, Chapter 152 update, seconded by Mr. Gutierrez. Mrs. Triana gave a HSD Minutes February 27, 2024 Page 2 roll call for each Board member to cast their vote. All aye, motion carried. (4/0) Mr. Fulton voted via Zoom. Next, Mr. Kingsland requested the Board approve an addendum to the Duck Creek Subaward that is required by the EPA. Mr. Gralik made a motion to accept the addendum to the Duck Creek Subaward, seconded by Mr. Gutierrez. Mrs. Triana gave a roll call for each Board member to cast their vote. All aye, motion carried. (4/0) Mr. Fulton voted via Zoom. ST. MARY’S OUTPATIENT CENTER’S SANITARY TAP Mr. Strickly of St. Mary’s Medical Center approached the Board. Mr. Strickly stated that with the construction of the addition of the outpatient rehabilitation building a secondary tap would be needed and requested permission of the Board to install a secondary tap. A brief discussion of the required tap fees and capacity fees would need to be paid. There was also a brief discussion of whether this secondary tap would require metering and sampling for the industrial pre-treatment. Mr. Gralik made a motion to approve the secondary tap with the condition that all requirements of the IPP are met, seconded by Mr. Gutierrez. Mrs. Triana gave a roll call for each Board member to cast their vote. All aye, motion carried. (4/0) Mr. Fulton voted via Zoom. LIFT STATION: Mr. Schoon approached the Board to request that a 2006 Ford truck that was no longer in use at the lift station be added to a list of auction items. Mr. Gutierrez made a motion to send the 2006 Ford to auction, seconded by Mr. Gralik. Mrs. Triana gave a roll call for each Board member to cast their vote. All aye, motion carried. (4/0) Mr. Fulton voted via Zoom. Attorney Meyer stated that there would need to be a resolution for the disposal of the vehicle which he would write up for the next meeting. Next, Mr. Schoon presented the Board with a quote from Serenity to clean the wet well at the main lift station. After a brief discussion, Mr. Gutierrez made a motion to approve the quote from Serenity with the modification of not-to-exceed $4,930.00, seconded by Mr. Gralik. Mrs. Triana gave a roll call for each Board member to cast their vote. All aye, motion carried. (4/0) Mr. Fulton voted via Zoom. The Board members received via email the monthly lift station report for January 2024. The Main Lift Station recorded 165,849,000 gallons of sewage pumped to the Gary Sanitary District in January; this was an increase of 61,661,000 gallons pumped than in December. The average daily flow for the month was 5.349 mgd. The White Oak Conservancy District readings from January 1st through the 31st totaled 5,126,900 gallons of flow. The average daily flow recorded for the 31 days was 165,383 gallons. Precipitation measured at the Main Lift Station totaled 4.43 inches for the month. This was above the 10-year average of 2.32 inches, for January. The total for the year is 4.43 inches. SANITARY: Mr. Lawson explained to the Board that due to HOA’s failure to maintain the ponds in the Barrington Ridge subdivision, they continue to have drainage issues. After a lengthy discussion, it was determined that the attorney and staff need to do some research on the District’s responsibility of the ponds. HSD Minutes February 27, 2024 Page 3 LEGAL DEPARTMENT: No report. FINANCIAL REPORT/INVOICE APPROVAL: The Financial Report was presented for January 2024. The month began with a balance of $6,249,823.17; total revenues of $2,270,810.40 and total disbursements of $2,292,499.30 to end the month with a balance of $6,228,134.27. The Sanitary invoices submitted for February 2024 total $592,854.63, Storm Water invoices submitted total $40,076.97. Mr. Gutierrez made a motion to approve the invoice claims for the month for a total of $632,931.60, seconded by Mr. Gralik. Mrs. Triana gave a roll call for each Board member to cast their vote. All aye, motion carried. (4/0) Mr. Fulton voted via Zoom. The SRF Bond Claims & Disbursement list was presented to the Board for March 2024. The Disbursement request is for a total of $1,768,900 and the bond, interest, and debt service claim in the amount of $251,744.17. Mr. Gralik made a motion to approve the SRF bond claims and disbursements for the month, seconded by Mr. Gutierrez. Mrs. Triana gave a roll call for each Board member to cast their vote. All aye, motion carried. (4/0) Mr. Fulton voted via Zoom. Lastly, Mr. Gralik made a motion to approve Storm Water Bond Payment #45, seconded by Mr. Gutierrez. Mrs. Triana gave a roll call for each Board member to cast their vote. All aye, motion carried. (4/0) Mr. Fulton voted via Zoom. GENERAL DISCUSSION: No report. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further comments or discussion, Mr. Gutierrez made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Gralik. All aye, motion carried. (4/0) Mr. Fulton voted via Zoom. The meeting adjourned at 6:32 PM. ________________________________ _________________________________ Jim Mandon Lorie Leonard HSD Minutes February 27, 2024 Page 4