CRANE LAKE WATER & SANITARY DISTRICT (CLWSD)

BOARD OF MANAGERS’ REGULAR MEETING

July 6, 2005 – 7:30 P.M.

CRANE LAKE CHAPEL FELLOWSHIP HALL

The meeting was called to order by Acting-Chairman Rob Scott at 7:30P.M.

Members present:  Managers Deena Congdon, Rob Scott, and Michael White.

Members absent:  Bud Bystrom and Darrell Scott

Also present: Jim Pucel of RLK-Kuusisto, Dave Hurd and Jim Pohlman of NTS, Clerk Jo Ann Pohlman, reporters from the Cook News-Herald, Voyageur Sentinel and Timberjay, and one member of the community.

BUSINESS:

Election of Chair:  D. Congdon nominated Rob Scott for Chairman.  Acting-Chair, Rob Scott, indicated seconds were not required for nominations. There were no other nominations.  There were no nominations for Vice-Chair.  Nominations for Vice-Chair were tabled.  The vote for Rob Scott as Chair was as follows:  D. Congdon – yes, M. White – abstain, R. Scott – yes.  Nominations for Chair were tabled until the next meeting.  R. Scott conducted the meeting as Acting-Chairman.

A motion was made by M. White, supported by D. Congdon, to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of June 1, 2005.  Motion carried.

D. Congdon reviewed the Treasurer’s Report and presented the invoices on hand for payment approval.  A motion was made by M. White, supported by D. Congdon, to accept the Treasurer’s report as read. Motion carried.  A motion was made by D. Congdon, supported by M. White, approving payment of the following invoices:  Administrative:  Costin Group – $750.00; RLK-Kuusisto – $761.25; Crane Lake Chapel – $165.00; Fryberger et al – $264.00 and RVS – $70.00.  Plant Operations:  Northeast Technical Services – $4,905.75; Hawkins – $206.35; Lake Country Power – $39.25 and $618.90; and Sunrise Construction – $500.00.  Gold Coast Project:  Cope & Peterson – $295.44 and RLK-Kuusisto – $3,183.77.  Motion carried.

The correspondence was presented to the Board.  A motion was made by D. Congdon, supported by M. White, that the correspondence be placed on file and acted upon as required.  Motion carried.

RLK-Kuusisto Project Status Report

• Project Status:  A warranty inspection meeting was held on June 30^th.  The Punch Lists were reviewed for additions.  Wagner will be on site Monday to prepare for paving the Gold Coast Road.  Paving should be done on Tuesday.  The shoulder work will be completed after that.  R. Scott stated that the John Hutt property restoration was incomplete.  Jim Pucel will look into that issue.   Wagner is requesting a Change Order for time extension to July 15^th for completion.
• Plant Flood:  The plant flooded on Sunday, July 3^rd due to power fluctuations causing some equipment to not restart.  The generator is operational but is not able to remedy this issue.  RLK and NTS are assessing the water damage, drying things out, and reviewing corrective actions for the future.  All MPCA procedure was followed.  An Incident Report will follow.

• Corrective Actions/Collection System:  RLK has received a quote of $150 per manhole to insulate the air release manholes.  The Total cost would be $1,950.00.
•  Recording of Plat:  Cope & Peterson is currently reviewing a draft of the plat. A tentative meeting is scheduled with RLK and Cope and Peterson on July 7^th to discuss changes, if any.  The plat will be put on mylars and recorded.  Half of the easement documents have already been filed.
• Wells: Kolstad is scheduled to perform the testing of the James Mohr well the week of July 5^th.  As of July 6^th Peterson Well Drilling has not scheduled the work at the Gayle Zullick property.

RLK-Kuusisto Project Status Report (Cont.)

• MPCA Project Priority List: RLK has received a quote of $150/site for a total cost of $22,500 for site evaluations/surveys of the estimated 150 sites in the ESA.  They are in the process of receiving additional quotes.  Please note that these are not compliance inspections.  Getting site evaluations is in line with MPCA recommendations for additional points for the PPL.

• Capital Asset Plan:  There is no report at this time.  RLK will try to get proposal to the Board within a couple of weeks.
• Project Forecast:  RLK needs final actual costs for items to be included on the Project Forecast.  They will provide the updated Forecast when all the numbers are in and will include a comparison with budgeted costs.
• A notice will be posted at the Post Office regarding the topcoat paving schedule for the Gold Coast Road.
• J. Pucel reported that Charlie Crockett had contacted them regarding future plans for the ESA.  A letter will be written to Mr. Crockett stating that the Board is aware that he has concerns and asking him to contact a Board member with those concerns.
• Change Order No. 6.  A motion was made by D. Congdon, supported by M. White, to approve Change Order No. 6 extending the Wagner Construction Contract to July 15, 2005.  Motion carried.

NTS Project Status Report

• A July Status Report was not provided to the Board at meeting time.  The report will be sent by E-mail to the Board within a couple of days.
• Status of Operations:  There was discussion of the plant flooding and actions being taken as stated above.
• Grinder Station/Pipeline Maintenance:  No inspections were reported. The inspections of all grinder pump stations will continue.
• Monitoring Equipment Status: The flow recorder will be installed by Quality Flow on July 8, 2005.
• Preventive Annual Maintenance Plan: Operations and Maintenance manuals have been received from RLK.  A maintenance schedule will be created and provided to the Board.
• There is increased alum use at the plant, which may require the addition of another tank.

EFG – Report

• Reports from EFG were received late in the day.  The Board will need to review the reports before commenting.
• Scott Harder will be asked to E-mail information to all Board members at one time.

2005 Forecast

• M. White changed the assumptions for the forecast using Scott Harder’s 5/18/05 Forecast.  Assumption changes include a total process flow of 2,600,000 gallons, elimination of the Capacity Reservation Fees and transfer of the KECO pump/trailer cost to Special Assessments.
• The plant has a capacity of 19,122,000 gallons.  At 60% of capacity, the plant would process 31,400 gallons per day.  Actual 2005 experience to date indicates a total flow of 7,100 gallons per day, which is 14% of capacity.
• The new meter at the lift station should improve comparisons.  A key to the operating expense will be in the RLK Forecast, if it contains operating expense items.
• The revised forecast indicates an operating loss of approximately $15,000 for 2005.  Projections into 2006 indicate a $50,000 loss.
• The Board agreed to request the preparation of a new 2005 Forecast by Scott Harder using Mike White’s recommendations. A motion was made by M. White, supported by D. Congdon, that M. White draft a letter to Scott Harder regarding an updated 2005 Forecast to be provided to the Board by July 25^th.  Motion carried.

Accounting System

• Using actual numbers reported to the MPCA as gallons used each month and the actual time of the run-time individual meters to recalculate the gallons per minutes for billing purposes was discussed.  A motion was made by M. White, supported by D. Congdon, to do the June billing utilizing the actual flow as determined by the lift station runtime meter and dividing the volume charges to individual property owners based on their grinder meters.   Motion carried.
• Liz Phelps has agreed to open and log billing receipts.  Procedure is being researched.

Eastern Service Area

·         Topic was discussed in the RLK Progress Report.

RD Project & Loan Closing

• There was a Compliance Review Meeting on June 30^th.  Accessibility of the meeting facility was discussed with a booklet being provided for RLK’s review for recommendations to the Board for a transition plan to comply.  M. White stated it is possible the District will have to remodel an existing building.
• A loan closing date was tentatively set for September 1, 2005.

Public Meeting

• M. White suggested that a public meeting be scheduled to discuss the current status of the WSA, future plans for the ESA, and the management district concept.  He suggested that we have someone knowledgeable on the subject of management districts as a presenter at the meeting.  M. White will review possible dates for a public meeting.

OTHER BUSINESS

Scott Harder is currently working on an updated amortization schedule for the Special Assessments attempting to use St. Louis County formulas.

Jo Ann is currently working with the MPCA to renew the ISTS Grant.

M. White reported a need for clarification on the status of the Eggen properties, which is being handled by Scott Harder.  Current indications are an erroneous County land assignment with a special assessment to Arthur Eggen, a monthly base rate overcharge to Virginia Stahnke, and an on-site system that could require abandonment.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Ruth L. Carlson reminded everyone that the downtown area will be busy next week with the Chapel Bazaar, and was concerned about the paving project.

There being no other business the meeting was adjourned at 9:45PM.

J. Pohlman, Clerk

NEXT MEETING:            AUGUST 3, 2005, AT THE CRANE LAKE CHAPEL FELLOWSHIP HALL AT 7:30 P.M.