Wells County Regional Sewer District

Regular Meeting Minutes

Subject / Wells Co. RSD / Date / May 16, 2011
Facilitator / Glenn Ryan, RSD President / Time / 6: 30 P.M.
Location / WellsCounty Library 200 West Washington St., Bluffton / Scribe / Glenn Ryan
Attendees / WellsCounty RSD Board Members: Glenn Ryan, Greg Castilow,
Kent Sprunger, Leon Berning, Rick Yoder; DLZ Engineers – Diana Toth; H. J. Umbaugh & Associates - Jeffrey Rowe, CPA; IRCAP – Vicki Perry; Public (see attached sign-in sheet)
Key Points Discussed
No. / Topic / Highlights
Committee Reports
1. / President’s Report:
New Board Member Training / Trustees Rick Yoder and Leon Berning completed board training presented by Indiana Rural Community Assistance Program (IRCAP). Ms. Vicki Perry, State Director for IRCAP presented all board members with certificates of accomplishment for satisfactory completion of the Utility Board Training Series.
2. / IRCAP Report:
Income Survey – McKinney / Paxson / Ms. Vicki Perry collected income surveys from board members who had contacted non responders from initial survey mailing. Date for completion of follow-up by board members is May 27, 2011.
After the board meeting IRCAP presented these survey results:
Total homes in area - (not connected to Vera Cruz force main) 74
Total surveys needed: 66
Total Surveys collected: 54
Total individuals in area 151
Number of individuals below: 43
Percent of individuals below: 28.48 %
3. / H. J. Umbaugh Report:
Certified Rate Study / Mr. Jeff Rowe presented certified rate study (copy attached). Estimated monthly rate ranges from approx $166 to $372. Estimated project costs of $2,809,000 together with annual operating, maintenance, and replacement costs of $92,500 appear to be disproportionate to the very limited number of users.
Even with 100% funding of the project with grants, the monthly user rate would be $107.
4. / DLZ Engineers Report / Diana Toth presented 4 alternate engineering design options for board review. Alternate 1 & 2 were similar in project costs and also were the least expensive. Alternate 2 was used for the certified rate study. It consisted of an upgrade to S.R. 124 Pump Station (all existing flow plus flow from McKinney/Paxson Area) with new force main to Bluffton WWTP.
Public Q&A / 1. Mr. Steve Hoffman asked if there were many samples taken from the area.
Answer – a number of water samples were taken at different times during 1999 and 2000 by the Health Department. These would be available to review after the meeting. These were also to be included in the WCRSD’s preliminary engineering report to IDEM.
2. Mr. Phillip Stoller asked how many residents were not in compliance with septic systems.
Answer – unknown. The problem in the area is that the existing soils have a high percentage of c lay which doesn’t allow adequate filtering of the septic systems. Essentially, all the septic systems that discharge to the soils are non compliant.
Mr. Stoller urged the board to use good business practices in selecting the right engineering solution.
3. Mr. Jim Schwartz asked for information on connection rates and user fees for the Vera Cruz force main.
Answer – Bluffton Utilities charged the customer $1,100 for connection fee in 2010 and $48.95 per month for user fees.
4. Mr. Doug Belcher asked about dye testing individual home owners. He also asked if an individual did his own dye testing and was found in compliance would that exempt the owner from connecting to the new collection system.
Answer – To the boards knowledge, dye testing has not be used by the health department in the McKinney / Paxson ditch area due to the time it would take to leave the septic system and the difficulty in determining where the effluent finally drained.
Depending on how the project is funded, the bond source may require all residences to connect to the new collection system.
Old Business / No old business discussed
New Business
Nominations and Election for vacant offices of Secretary and Treasurer. / Motion made by Trustee Sprunger to nominate Rick Yoder for office of Secretary. 2nd by Greg Castilow. Unanimous Vote for Rick Yoder to office of Secretary.
Motion made by Vice President Castilow to nominate Leon Berning for office of Treasurer. 2nd by Trustee Sprunger. Unanimous Vote for Leon Berning to office of Treasurer.
Meeting Adjournment – 8:00 P.M.
Next Regular Board Meeting / 6:30 P.M., Monday, June 20, 2011 at Location to be determined (Annex may be available)
Action Plan
1 / Submit Preliminary Engineering Report to IDEM / DLZ Engineers / June 1, 2011
2 / Complete follow up of income survey of non responding residents / WCRSD Board Members / May 27, 2011
3 / Schedule meeting with Bluffton Utilities & Mayor to discuss connection to Bluffton WWTP / DLZ & WCRSD / Date TBD

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