2006 Minutes
Last updated: 04/08/2010
Minutes of the
Green Lake
Sanitary Sewer and Water District Commission
6:00 p.m., Monday, December 18, 2006
GLSSWD
Wastewater Treatment Plant
Present: Clayton Anderson, Trudie Guptill, Dennis Peterson, Dennis Baker, Bill Taylor, Harvey Lange, Marv Hey, John Bergman
Absent: none
Others present: Ron Hagemeier, Dick Bakken, Kevin Dittbenner, Gary Danielson
The meeting was called to order by chairman, Harvey Lange at 6 p.m. on Monday, December 18, 2006 at the GLSSWD Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Water losses for Spicer are at 5.3%, Green Lake at 25.5%, and New London at 31.3%. The average for the month is 20.7% with a yearly average of 25.8%. When looking at the Green Lake numbers for wastewater treated compared to the total accounted for water for January and February they are reasonably close, however, in November there is quite a large spread. When comparing, the spreadsheet for last year is almost identical with this year’s. If the numbers for December are not similar to last December, even though the meters were calibrated about ten months ago, the meters will be calibrated again. Following discussion, it was recommended by the Commission to have the meters calibrated in January.
Gary distributed a memo from Bolton and Menk which listed the work completed to date and for the week of December 18, 2006 on the Lake Florida project. There was lengthy discussion among the Commission regarding the project. The intermediate lift station control panels and electronic communications monitoring system are scheduled for mid-January.
There will be a meeting with the Nest Lake Association and others directly affected in January regarding the recommended EDU charges for the resorts. Public hearings will be scheduled to enable the County Board to make a comprehensive decision.
When coming to work two and half weeks ago, one of the GLSSWD employees saw ice forming down the hill by the township access on the south side of the lake. When going back out, a leak was discovered between the access and John Allinder residence. After digging down, a bad flare in a pipe that had a slight arch was found. As repairs began the curb box at the road was discovered to be bent. It was decided to also repair it while the backhoe was there. When doing this work the curb box pipe was found to have no protective covering, was much corroded, and has a hole in the side. Ron will check on electrolysis possibly being a problem.
The account of Randy Schoephoerster on Skyline Drive is well over a year past due with service fees of $263.97 and penalties of $202.87 totaling $466.84. This property has gone through foreclosure with 2-3 months remaining for Mr. Schoephoerster to purchase the property back. Terry Kohls on North Shore Drive has service fees of $198.78 and penalties of $44.53 totaling $243.31. Trudie Guptill moved and Bill Taylor seconded to assess their property taxes in 2007 for the delinquent fees. With no discussion, the motion carried.
A motion to approve the minutes was made by Bill Taylor and seconded by Clayton Anderson. There was discussion and updates on Bunny Park. There being no further discussion, the motion carried.
A motion to approve the bills was made by Dennis Baker and seconded by Clayton Anderson. The question was asked, who Affordable Pumping is. It was explained that they are the company hired when pumping and cleaning is needed at deep lift stations. With no further discussion, the motion carried.
John Crossen called today regarding his request to wire his home generator to run the GLSSWD grinder pump station during power outages. The Lake Committee will be meeting in January to discuss this matter.
There was discussion on the status of the draft GLSSWD Ordinance.
A motion to adjourn was made by Clayton Anderson and seconded by John Bergman. The motion carried.
Trudie, Harvey and Bill were thanked for their service and dedication as Commission members; their terms expire as of 12/31/06. The next meeting will be at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, January 22, 2007.
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth Slinden
Recording Secretary
Minutes of the
Green Lake
Sanitary Sewer and Water District Commission
6:00 p.m., Monday, November 20, 2006
GLSSWD
Wastewater Treatment Plant
Present: Harvey Lange, Bill Taylor, Clayton Anderson, Dennis Peterson, John Bergman, Marv Hey, Dennis Baker, Trudie Guptill
Absent: none
Others present: Ron Hagemeier, Gary Danielson, Kevin Dittbenner
The meeting was called to order by chairman, Harvey Lange at 6 p.m. on Monday, November 20, 2006 at the GLSSWD Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The water losses in October for Spicer are 11.8%, Green Lake 31.1%, and New London 22.6%. New London had a large leak repaired last month. The monthly average is 21.8% with a yearly average of 26.3%.
The public assessment hearing for the lake low pressure sewer collection line and the Lake Florida portion of the trunk line was held Friday, November 17, with low attendance. Each build able lot will be assessed $6,855. The contractor installing the grinder pumps has started work installing but not hooking up at this point. There needs to be discussion regarding allowing the hookups since the electronic communications monitoring system will not be installed until the middle of January. Following lengthy discussion, the Commission recommended the hookups continue and Bolton & Menk be contacted regarding the monitoring of the system. The billing and metering will be done through the Kandiyohi Power Cooperative.
There was a meeting in November with Nest Lake to formulate a policy for calculating EDU’s regarding resorts and converted resorts. A meeting to begin work for the public hearings will be held in January.
Diamond Lake is on hold until discussions begin in the spring with their new board. There is a strong concern with the County Board this sewer problem needs to be dealt with. If not through the District system, then the lake needs to come up with their solution to the problem.
At the Lake Committee meeting on August 31, 2006, Ron was asked to write a draft water leak repair policy. Clayton Anderson will take this to the Lake Committee for review in December or January and then bring back to the Commission.
John Bergman will continue to serve on the Commission representing the City of New London. The City of Spicer will make appointments at their meeting on January 10, 2007.
A motion to approve the minutes was made by Bill Taylor and seconded by Trudie Guptill. There being no discussion, the motion carried.
A motion to approve the bills was made by Clayton Anderson and seconded by Dennis Baker. The lift station preventative maintenance work done this fall revealed the need for repairs on several pumps. Two of the larger pumps require new lower seals installed. Two other older smaller pumps also required lower seal work were found to have housings that have been worked on previously and cannot be refitted with new seals again. With no parts or used pumps available the need to buy two new pumps at $8,000 each is necessary. The equipment and replacement fund will pay for these new pumps. With no further discussion, the motion carried.
John Crossen at 13890 Indian Beach Road is hooked to the system by a grinder station and is concerned with outages regarding his power source. He submitted a letter requesting he run the grinder pump with his home generator should an outage occur. There are two options: one being an electrical cord connection system where the District was asked to pay for totally costing up to $100 and the second being to hard wire in a connection with the District paying half of the cost that being $165. Following discussion, the Commission decided the Lake Committee should be making this decision since the funds will come out of the Green Lake budget.
Gary will call Bolton and Menk tomorrow regarding the sewer infrastructure installation status of Bunny Park.
A motion to adjourn was made by Clayton Anderson and seconded by Dennis Baker. The motion carried.
The next meeting will be held on December 18th, the 3rd Monday of the month.
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth Slinden
Secretary
Minutes of the
Green Lake
Sanitary Sewer and Water District Commission
6:00 p.m., Monday, October 23, 2006
GLSSWD
Wastewater Treatment Plant
Present: Harvey Lange, Clayton Anderson, Bill Taylor, Trudie Guptill, Dennis Baker, John Bergman, Dennis Peterson, Marv Hey
Absent: none
Others present: Ron Hagemeier, Dick Bakken
The meeting was called to order by chairman, Harvey Lange at 6 p.m. on Monday, October 23, 2006 at the GLSSWD Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The water losses for September are Spicer 13.7 %, Green Lake 26.3 %, and New London 33.4%. The average for the month is 24.4% with a yearly average of 26.8%. Ron, Kimberly, and Trudie will be writing letters to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to provide information and request extension of the District’s permit. There is nothing to report regarding any leaks. The water consumption is beginning to decrease around the lake with residents leaving for the winter. The Eagle Estates mag meters are finally in place after about a year and a half. Their performance is being tracked as compared to the gallons of usage recorded by the house meters in that area.
The loan agreement and resolution included in the meeting packets were briefly discussed. A motion was made by Dennis Baker and seconded by Clayton Anderson to accept the Lake Florida Infrastructure Loan Agreement and GLSSWD Resolution and present them to the County Board. With no further discussion, the motion carried.
A brief discussion took place regarding the proposed budget and budget resolutions. The resolutions are as follows: Resolution No. 1 deals with the District as a whole, Resolution No. 2 with the Green Lake area, and Resolution No. 3 with the Lake Florida area. All are pertaining to respective 2007 EDU, usage, and annual and associated fee charges. A motion to recommend Resolution No. 1 to the County Board was made by Clayton Anderson and seconded by Bill Taylor. The motion carried. A motion to recommend Resolution No. 2 to the County Board was made by Clayton Anderson and seconded by Harvey Lange. The motion carried. A motion to recommend Resolution No. 3 to the County Board was made by Trudie Guptill and seconded by Dennis Baker. The motion carried.
Todd Bredeson, a representative from National Water Works, was out and met at the Spicer City Hall with Bill, Kimberly, Dan, Tom, and Nate, from the District. Todd went over how the hand held reader works and did some updating with new software. Lorie’s software was also updated recently and found there is a report, not aware of before, that can be printed telling exactly what the reason is for a no read at a particular residence. Nate put together a handbook of the procedure for the hand held reader. A copy was given to Bill Taylor for the City of Spicer to review.
A unanimous decision was made to have the November meeting on Monday, November 20th at 6 p.m. and the December meeting on Monday, December 18th at 6 p.m.
A motion to approve the minutes was made by Dennis Baker and seconded by John Bergman. There being no discussion, the motion carried.
A motion to approve the bills was made by Trudie Guptill and seconded by Bill Taylor. With no discussion, the motion carried.
The expense reports for per diem were distributed to the Commission members for completion for the year.
A motion to adjourn was made by Bill Taylor and seconded by Dennis Peterson. The motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth Slinden
Recording
Secretary
Minutes of the
Green Lake
Sanitary Sewer and Water District Commission
6:00 p.m., Monday, September 25, 2006
GLSSWD Wastewater Treatment Plant
Present: Harvey Lange, Dennis Baker, Dennis Peterson, Trudie Guptill
Absent: Marv Hey, Bill Taylor, Clayton Anderson
Others present: Ron Hagemeier, Dick Bakken, Gary Danielson
The meeting was called to order by chairman, Harvey Lange at 6 p.m. on Monday, September 25, 2006 at the GLSSWD Wastewater Treatment Plant.
A letter was received from the Minnesota Department of Health stating before an amended permit, which was applied for in February, can be issued the District needs to submit updated plans for reducing the unaccounted for water.
It was noted that the New London’s numbers are being consistent and those for Green Lake and Spicer are not. Ron stressed the fact that all meters for Green Lake need to be read each month and all reads need to be applied to the current read month. This includes irrigation meters. There has always been a problem with missing reads and estimating them. Following discussion regarding this situation, the Commission asked that Ron contact Kimberly to get this done correctly or someone else will be found to do the job. A recommendation was also made to have this discussion again next month when Bill Taylor is present. Dennis Baker volunteered to talk with Kimberly tomorrow and get some answers for next month. These numbers need to be specific as far as the Department of Health is concerned. There will be updates from Ron and Dennis Baker next month.
There was a meeting with Lake Florida on Thursday, September 21, at 4 p.m. The line around Lake Florida is complete with most of the trunk line done and hooking up should begin the middle of October.
Dennis Peterson, Gary Danielson, and Bolton and Menk will be meeting with the property owners’ groups on George Lake and Nest Lake tomorrow night to move toward a decision. The plans for Henderson Lake are being updated.
There was discussion at the last meeting about his possible sewer connection problem. Following the meeting, hand digging verified the old septic tank was bypassed and there is no liability to the District. Dick was preparing to put in a new service line last week.
Bill Cook – 12154 Indian Beach Road – Sewer Service Faulty Connection & Repairs
Bill Cook called a few weeks ago that a cleanout in front of his house was overflowing with sewage. The District investigated the situation and found a second house sewer service line not connected from the 2001 project. While connecting the service line an old septic tank that had not been abandoned from the 1984 project was also discovered on the same line. Since the excavator was on site, the decision was made to get this fixed immediately and properly abandon the septic tank and hook up the second house service line correctly.
Paul Smith – 9965 North Shore Drive – Insurance Claim Update
There was water damage to his house a couple years ago. Since then, he had requested the District pay his insurance deductible of $1,000. The District has now received a claim letter from Farm Bureau Insurance which has been forwarded to the county administration office. This claim will be discussed between the County’s insurance and the Farm Bureau Insurance Company. There is record of communication between the District and the Minnesota County’s Insurance Trust office regarding this matter.
Draft Budget
Harvey Lange reported, in Clayton Anderson’s absence, that the Green Lake Committee met and unanimously adopted the 4% budget increase of the 2007 usage rates per 1,000 gallons for water from $2.05 to $2.13 and wastewater from $3.60 to $3.74 and the increase in EDU charges from $33 to $34 a month for water and sewer connection.
In Marv Hey’s absence, Ron reported that the Lake Florida Improvement Committee at their meeting on Thursday, September 21, reviewed the 2007 Lake Florida budget as well as the whole District budget and has approved the rates as printed on the proposed 2007 Lake Florida budget.
The 2007 District budget will be included on the October meeting agenda for recommendation to the County Board after the cities of New London and Spicer have met.
Kevin Dittbenner, a New London city council member, is willing to serve on the Commission.
Brett Aamot, from the Green Lake Committee, is willing to serve on the Commission.
A motion to recommend to Dennis Peterson of the County Board that Brett Aamot and Kevin Dittbenner be accepted for the Commission positions was made by Dennis Baker and seconded by John Bergman. With no discussion, the motion carried.
A motion to approve the minutes was made by Trudie Guptill and seconded by Dennis Peterson. There being no discussion, the motion carried.
A motion to approve the bills was made by Dennis Peterson and seconded by Harvey Lange. With no discussion, the motion carried.
Ron, Trudie and Kimberly will meet regarding the letter from the Department of Health. The maintenance supervisors for New London and Spicer may also be involved.
Tom Morts living at Bunny Park called a couple weeks ago that his drain field has failed. He is wondering about hookup to the District system. The north and south section is ready for a low pressure system, but now Bolton & Menk needs to look at a gravity feed design for the east and west section. There will be more on this next month after something is put together.
A motion to adjourn was made by Dennis Baker and seconded by John Bergman. The motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth Slinden
Secretary
Minutes of the
Green Lake
Sanitary Sewer and Water District Commission
6:00 p.m., Monday, August 28, 2006
GLSSWD
Wastewater Treatment Plant
Present: Harvey Lange, Clayton Anderson, Trudie Guptill, Dennis Peterson, Bill Taylor
Absent: Dennis Baker, John Bergman, Marv Hey
Others present: Ron Hagemeier, Gary Danielson, Dick Bakken, Roger Stehn, Dick Schwegman
The meeting was called to order by chairman, Harvey Lange at 6 p.m. on Monday, August 28, 2006 at the GLSSWD Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The monthly average water loss for July is 21%.
The first hookups could be in mid-October. The residents are pleased with how the project is going.
There has been discussion with Hidden Springs regarding changing of their position about participating in the system. They will be discussing the matter at their annual meeting.
There has been discussion with the Kandiyohi Power Cooperative about billing Lake Florida accounts using a turtle meter read system which would send in signals every 27 hours. Kandiyohi Power would do the reading, billing, etc. for the District. Ron could also tie in to track run time and other data. This would cost $2.08 per account per month with the meter supplied.
Nest, George & Henderson
The meetings on August 25th and 26th were very well attended with people appreciative of being brought up to date on a possible sewer system. A meeting is scheduled for Wednesday morning, August 30, at the Public Works offices at 8 a.m. to decide how to further proceed.
The pond acreage has been rented to Reid Stranberg at $7.00 per head per month.
Copies of the proposed 2007 Draft Budget were distributed for the Commissions’ review for discussion and possible finalizing at the September meeting.
A motion to approve the minutes was made by Bill Taylor and seconded by Trudie Guptill. There being no discussion, the motion carried.
A motion to approve the bills was made by Clayton Anderson and seconded by Bill Taylor. With no discussion, the motion carried.
Following discussion with Harris Duininck regarding the rental of the pond control building, a recommendation was made to charge rent of $125 per month paid retroactive to May, 2004. Trudie Guptill made a motion to accept the recommendation with Bill Taylor seconding. With no discussion, the motion carried.
A motion to adjourn was made by Clayton Anderson and seconded by Bill Taylor. The motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth Slinden
Secretary
Minutes of the
Green Lake Sanitary
Sewer and Water District Commission
6:00 p.m., Monday, July 24, 2006
GLSSWD Wastewater Treatment Plant
Present: Harvey Lange, Clayton Anderson, Bill Taylor, Trudie Guptill, Dennis Baker, John Bergman, Dennis Peterson
Absent: none
Others present: Ron Hagemeier, Gary Danielson, Dick Bakken, Roger Stehn, Harris Duininck
The meeting was called to order by chairman, Harvey Lange at 6 p.m. on Monday, July 24, 2006 at the GLSSWD Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The June water loss for Spicer is 13.5%, Green Lake is 26.5%, and New London is 26.9%. With about 20 leaks fixed around the lake over the past 4-5 years and the loss numbers not changing, it would indicate there are more lake area leaks that are getting bigger. The average loss for the month is 22.3% with the yearly average at 31.1%.
There was a precise residential meter reading resulting in a 20.1% loss for Green Lake. The normal month read was one day off which accounted for 350,000 gallons and the difference from the 26.5%. The 350,000 gallons will be accounted for in next months read. There was discussion regarding another precise read next month.
Eagle Estates has a water reading but the mag meter on the wastewater has not been working. After a year and half the control board is now in the building. There was discussion regarding metering. The mag meter results are used as a cross reference regarding structure meter usage reads.
There was discussion about appointing a new member for the Commission from the Lake Florida area. Marv Hey, the chairman of the association, is willing to be on the Commission. Dennis Baker made a motion with Clayton Anderson seconding to recommend to the County Board that Marv Hey be appointed the representative for Lake Florida. Dennis Peterson will take this to the county board. With no further discussion, the motion carried.
With Lake Florida coming on with about 200 more accounts and the reading of electrical meters, there has been thought of the District reading their own meters in the future. Following discussion, there was a decision to look at all the options before making a final decision.
The need for the District to have a maintenance contract and whether or not to continue to fix leaks was also discussed.
Ron will get a proposal together on the possibilities of future usage meter reads, billings, and a maintenance contract.
Reid Stranberg, who is renting land from Duinincks, was in to talk about cattle grazing the old stabilization ponds land. He has submitted an agreement and letter requesting several items creating expenses for the District. Ron informed him the District would not agree to any expenses. Following discussion, the Commission was in agreement to allow grazing for a fee as long as there is no cost to the District. Ron will contact Reid regarding the decision.
A motion to approve the minutes was made by Dennis Baker and seconded by Bill Taylor. There being no discussion, the motion carried.
A motion to approve the bills was made by Bill Taylor and seconded by John Bergman. Following discussion regarding a couple bills, the motion carried.
A letter was received from Dean Helstrom that the easement for Bunny Park from Tim Carlson is complete.
The lift station beyond the Castle has a concrete slab being used as a parking spot. There was discussion to put up a no parking sign.
Gary Geer called today regarding Paul Vossen on the west side of Old Mill Road who two years ago was to update his septic system. At that time the District could not afford to install a grinder station just for him and recommended he could upgrade his onsite system. After doing an on site inspection, there is no original ground suitable there. If he doesn’t hookup to the District, he will have to do his own system at quite an expense. The current assessment to hookup would be $9,573 with gravity feed into the system but he needs a grinder station. One thought was he could buy the grinder station with the District deducting the cost from the assessment and install at his expense. The Commission agreed to work something out with Paul.
A motion to adjourn was made by Dennis Baker and seconded by Clayton Anderson. The motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth Slinden
Secretary
Minutes of the
Green Lake Sanitary
Sewer and Water District Commission
6:00 p.m., Monday, June 26, 2006
GLSSWD
Wastewater Treatment Plant
Present: Harvey Lange, Clayton Anderson, Dennis Baker, Bill Taylor, Trudie Guptill, Dennis Peterson
Absent: John Bergman
Others present: Ron Hagemeier, Dick Bakken, Gary Danielson, Roger Stehn
The meeting was called to order by chairman, Harvey Lange at 6 p.m. on Monday, June 26, 2006 at the GLSSWD Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The water loss for May is looking better with Spicer down at 26.1%, Green Lake at 25.7%, and New London at 17.8%. The average loss for the month is 23.2% with a yearly average of 32.9%. The water loss results from the Torgerson leak will show with the June reading which will be completed Wednesday or Thursday this week.
The County Road 10 west of Spicer project has been awarded and east of Spicer bids tomorrow. The west side will be completed this year. The east side will be graded this year with the bituminous completed next year.
Following much number crunching and taking a long hard look at Chuck Pettipiece’s revenue and debt schedule spread sheets along with reviewing usage records from the three entities, it was determined a more equitable way of billing New London, Spicer, and the Green Lake area for debt repayment could not be found. EDU calculation will continue to be the process to determine each entity’s payment responsibilities. In addition, starting in 2007, the water and sewer yearly residential usage averages from the cities of Spicer and New London will be utilized to calculate commercial EDU’s for the entire District. Clayton Anderson made a motion to accept the report with Dennis Baker seconding. Following further discussion, the motion carried. Thank you to Ron, Trudie and Kim for their work.
A motion to approve the minutes was made by Clayton Anderson and seconded by Dennis Peterson. There being no discussion, the motion carried.
A motion to approve the bills was made by Dennis Baker and seconded by Trudie Guptill. Following discussion regarding explanation of a few bills, the motion carried.
Roger Stehn brought in a water service line pipe with a poor flare job with no evidence of leaking and commented about the poor job of construction. There was discussion.
The Diamond Lake group has requested the County host a public information meeting. The meeting is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 8, at the Atwater Community Center. The construction estimates of $17,000 per hookup plus or minus are about the same as Lake Florida with there being 300+ accounts.
Henderson Lake had a meeting yesterday where sewer service was discussed with great interest by those present. There would be about 50 accounts. The Commission also discussed George Lake.
There was discussion on comparing what is currently being paid for EDU’s and what the operational cost will be in 2007. The plan is for Ron, Kimberly, and Trudie to meet again in September, review the EDU numbers and the debt payment schedule, and make a decision on a recommendation regarding a rate increase.
A motion to adjourn was made by Dennis Baker and seconded by Bill Taylor. The motion carried.
The next Commission meeting will be held on Monday, July 24, at the same time and location.
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth Slinden
Secretary
Minutes of the
Green Lake Sanitary
Sewer and Water District Commission
6:00 p.m., Monday, May 22, 2006
GLSSWD
Wastewater Treatment Plant
Present: Clayton Anderson, Harvey Lange, John Bergman, Dennis Peterson
Absent: Trudie Guptill, Dennis Baker, Bill Taylor
Others present: Ron Hagemeier, Dick Bakken
The meeting was called to order by chairman, Harvey Lange at 6 p.m. on Monday, May 22, 2006 at the GLSSWD Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Water losses for the month of April are Spicer with 37%, Green Lake with 41.9% and New London with 27.2%. The total average for all three entities is 35.3%. The Torgerson leak was fixed last week but the flow numbers will not reflect this for a month and a half. The Eagle Estates mag meter is working on the waterside but still not working on the wastewater side. Flow meter readings for June will be read the same time Spicer reads residential meters to enable getting a base number to work with for the summer months.
A 2-inch copper line going to the house was found to have a connection which was not tightened down. This has been fixed and the restoration work is being completed today. There was discussion regarding what to do in the future with restoring improved driveways, such as those constructed with pavers. This will be discussed when the Lake Committee meets.
Trudie, Kim and Ron met again briefly to discuss what was needed from Chuck Pettipiece. Trudie received the information from Chuck on Friday and is, along with Kim, analyzing it. They will meet again before the next Commission meeting. There is a need for all three entities to understand the reason why if there is a need to raise the EDU charges.
The hearing held on May 20 went well. There was some question regarding Hidden Springs not being assessed initially for the trunk line. The Lake Florida Association had decided to go with the less expensive grinder pump but is willing to go with what the County Board decides. The County Board feels the higher priced one would be better. There will be a meeting Friday with the grinder pump sales representatives and the County Commissioners.
Dean Helstrom contacted the directional boring company and they have agreed to do the project for the same cost as last fall. The line will go down 133rd Street and tie into the manhole at the end of Indian Beach. Denny Chvatal has signed the application and waiver of assessment agreement for the trunk line assessment of $3,360, agreed to buy the hydromatic grinder station at cost from the District, and will hire a contractor per specifications given by the District to install the grinder station. He would like to wait until late summer or fall to install the grinder station because of some planned yard activities. After the mainline is installed, anyone along its route will be required to hook up if improvements to their existing on site system are required by county ordinance.
Gordon Gravely owns a house and rental house on the same piece of property on CR 131 (Old Mill Road). A problem exists getting water to the rental house and a garden hose on the ground between the houses is currently being used to supply water. Gordon is inquiring about the possibility to hookup to water without sewer and what the cost would be. The zoning office had given him a five year extension on his existing sewer system two years ago when applying for a permit to add a garage to his house. Ron reviewed the current policy and presented several new options with discussion by the Commission. A motion was made by Clayton Anderson and seconded by John Bergman to change the hookup policy. The new GLSSWD water/sewer hook up policy is as follows: When connecting only to water service in the District, one half of the current District hook up fee and one half of the current lake area hook up fee, if applicable, will be charged. Throughout the District if a water hookup fee has been paid and sewer service is requested, one half of the current sewer hook up fee, District and lake area if applicable, will be charged. Full hook up fees apply for hook up to just sewer or water and sewer. All fees are due the District before any type of hookup occurs. SAC and operation and maintenance charges, where applicable, will be charged at one half the rate when hooking up to water. Full SAC and operation and maintenance charges apply, where applicable, when hooking up to just sewer or water and sewer. The motion carried.
Note: After further review regarding the Gordon Gravely request for water service only, it was identified that the property had not been assessed for either water or sewer availability to date. Assessment information for water or water and sewer was provided along with new hook up fee policy information.
There was discussion regarding additions, deletions, and corrections to the draft ordinance since the last meeting. The draft will be updated, reviewed with Gary Danielson, and given to Wayne Larson for finalization before presenting to the County Board.
A motion to approve the minutes was made by Clayton Anderson and seconded by John Bergman. The motion carried.
A motion to approve the bills was made by Clayton Anderson and seconded by Dennis Peterson. The motion carried.
Nothing to discuss.
A motion to adjourn was made by Clayton Anderson and seconded by John Bergman. The motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth Slinden
Secretary
Minutes of the
Green Lake Sanitary
Sewer and Water District Commission
6:00 p.m., Monday, April 24, 2006
GLSSWD
Wastewater Treatment Plant
Present: Clayton Anderson, Bill Taylor, Dennis Baker, John Bergman, Dennis Peterson, Trudie Guptill
Absent: Harvey Lange
Others present: Ron Hagemeier, Gary Danielson, Dick Bakken
The meeting was called to order by vice-president, Dennis Baker, at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 24, 2006 at the GLSSWD Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Water losses for the month of March are Spicer with 33%, Green Lake with 41.2%, and New London with 28%. The total average for all three entities is 33.5%. The Eagle Estates mag meters will be worked on by Jasper Engineering on May 2.
A couple of leaks were found last week. There was water surfacing at the Tom Torgerson residence. After digging down, the 2-inch line was found to be in three feet of water making it difficult to get at and repair. On Wednesday this week, de-watering points will be used to get rid of the excess water so the work can be done. While at this leak site, a call was received from Forstrom’s housekeeper that water was running down the driveway into the street. There was a leak fixed two years ago on a different connection at this same location. The Forstom leak was fixed on Friday. The Torgerson leak will hopefully be fixed next week. This work is all the District’s expense.
Trudie, Kimberly, and Ron are now looking at the payment schedule for the year and what is being done to meet that schedule. The spreadsheet of the schedule needs to be updated to reflect the $20 SAC increase in 2006. Ron spoke of a conference he attended regarding rates charged. The result of this analysis should be that the District will be billing the two cities and the lake the same.
The bids for the project came in high with the apparent low bidders being Duininck Bros. for the trunk line and GM Contracting, Inc. for around the lake. The original assessment figures per property unit were $14,000. Since this was last estimated the price of pipe has gone up 33% and the cost of machinery to put the pipe in the ground is up about $15.00 an hour. There is a substantial difference to the homeowner depending on which grinder pump is installed. An E-1 system costs about $1,300 less per property unit than the hydromatic pump included in the plan. The assessment per the bids of $17,300 less the $1,300 would come to $16,000. The cost per year on the $14,000 at the time of the hearing was $1,218 per year at 6% interest. Now using a 2% interest figure the approximate cost per year is $960 for 20 years. This would need to be paid back in 4½ years with that starting after 20 years. There is a meeting scheduled for Tuesday with the group representing Lake Florida to discuss the bid results.
It was asked if someone, especially a commercial business, along the trunk line would be able to hook up. This can happen but is not being encouraged. It is better to have an independent low pressure system before connecting to the higher pressure trunk line.
The Lake Florida project is proposed to start in June with hookups by the fall.
There was some discussion regarding the service and any charges for maintenance of the system by the District.
This was discussed during the above item.
A motion to approve the minutes was made by John Bergman and seconded by Clayton Anderson. There has been no change on the installation of the two-way radio since the last meeting. Ron is waiting to hear from Pete’s Communications. The septic tank drain field at the Marlys Larsen rental property seems to be taking some water now. Bolton and Menk will put a report together regarding the possible hook up to the centralized sytem. There being no further discussion, the motion carried.
A motion to approve the bills was made by Clayton Anderson and seconded by Bill Taylor. Following the clarification of a couple bills, the motion carried.
There was some discussion regarding the District Ordinance. This will be put on the agenda for the May meeting.
A motion to adjourn was made by John Bergman and seconded by Clayton Anderson. The motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth Slinden
Secretary
Minutes of the
Green Lake Sanitary
Sewer and Water District Commission
6:00 p.m., Monday, March 27, 2006
GLSSWD
Wastewater Treatment Plant
Present: Dennis Baker, John Bergman, Bill Taylor, Clayton Anderson, Dennis Peterson, Trudie Guptill
Absent: Harvey Lange
Others present: Ron Hagemeier, Gary Danielson
The meeting was called to order by vice-president Dennis Baker at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 27, 2006 at the GLSSWD Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The water losses for the month of February are Spicer 34.3%, Green Lake 42%, New London 25.4% with an average for all three entities at 33.3%. Jasper Engineering has been hired to work on the Eagle Estates mag meters. The water meter is working but the wastewater meter circuit board needs more work. The wastewater flows have increased for New London and Spicer during January and February. The meters will be calibrated during April.
Trudie, Kimberly and Ron met on March 20 to discuss in general how the District calculates EDU’s. The committee will come back with more EDU information and recommendations at a future meeting. The Commission will need to make a decision regarding increasing the EDU rate at the next District budget cycle.
The project is on track and bid opening is scheduled for Tuesday, April 18, 2006.
A motion to approve the minutes was made by Bill Taylor and seconded by Clayton Anderson. After discussion regarding the percentages of responses on the Lake Florida project being over 100%, it was unanimously decided no amending of the minutes was necessary. There has been no further action on the sale of property to Harris Duininck. There being no further discussion, the motion to approve the minutes carried.
A motion to approve the bills was made by Trudie Guptill and seconded by Bill Taylor. There was a question on the B & J Lake Region Electric, Inc. bill for $1,352 which was for rewiring of the nine lift station generators into the alarm system. The Allen’s Septic Pumping bill is for pumping at the Marlys Larson house which is $100 per week. There have been calls to the District from prospective buyers regarding the white house, also on Highway 23, that also has a septic system maintained by the District. The Trailer Works (welding shop) is also in this area. Ron will determine the situation of these three properties and return with a report on a feasible solution regarding their sewer service needs. With no further discussion, the motion to approve the bills carried.
A draft copy of “An Ordinance for the Green Lake Sanitary Sewer and Water District” was distributed to the Commission for review and to return with questions at the April meeting.
Bolton and Menk, Inc. has supplied information regarding the City of New London acquiring right of way, which is part of the Water Plant well field, for frontage road access to the new proposed clinic. Following discussion, Trudie Guptill made a motion to recommend the Kandiyohi County Board consider granting an easement, deeding or selling the property to the City of New London and determine any price per acre involved. Clayton Anderson seconded. With no further discussion, the motion carried.
A motion to adjourn was made by Bill Taylor and seconded by Clayton Anderson. The motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth Slinden
Secretary
Minutes of the
Green Lake Sanitary
Sewer and Water District Commission
6:00 p.m., Monday, February 27, 2006
GLSSWD
Wastewater Treatment Plant
Present: Clayton Anderson, Bill Taylor, Dennis Baker, Harvey Lange, John Bergman, Trudie Guptill
Absent: Dennis Peterson
Others present: Ron Hagemeier, Dean Helstrom, Gary Danielson
The meeting was called to order by chairman Harvey Lange at 6 p.m. on Monday, February 27, 2006 at the GLSSWD Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The water losses for January are up with an average of 32.6% for the three entities. Spicer is 36.3%, Green Lake is 38.9%, and New London is 22.6%. There are no known leaks. The monitoring will continue and any leaks found will be repaired. The flow meters will be calibrated when the weather warms up.
This policy was reviewed and approved last month. It is being brought up again to bring Clayton Anderson up to date since he was not at the last meeting.
The question was raised if Paul Smith, whom sustained water leak damage to his residence on the north side of the lake, had been in contact with Ron since Paul’s request to have the District pay his insurance deductible. Ron noted a letter was sent to Mr. Smith indicating that his insurance company should turn a claim into the county insurance agency. Mr. Smith has not responded. There is no new information available to date.
The Marlys Larson rental property on Highway 23 sewer drain field does not seem to be working and the septic tank is being pumped every several days. This will need to eventually be fixed.
Following discussion the recommendation was made by Bill Taylor and Dennis Baker for the cities of Spicer and New London, being represented by Kimberly and Trudie, and Ron meet to arrive at a commercial EDU calculation that is reviewed annually and present the findings at the March meeting.
Dean Helstrom reported on a survey sent to residents of lots, homes or cabins on Lake Florida. The recent numbers are 20% have not responded, 8% or 17 homes (excluding the 26 homes in Hidden Springs) do not plan to hook up, 75% plan to hookup, and 11% are undecided. Dean is looking for recommendation from the GLSSWD Commission for the project schedule to be presented for adoption by the County Board at the March 7, 2006 meeting. Dennis Baker so moved with John Bergman seconding. Maps of the project were reviewed and discussed by the Commission. With no further discussion, the motion carried.
A motion to approve the minutes was made by Bill Taylor and seconded by Trudie Guptill. There being no discussion, the motion carried.
A motion to approve the bills was made by Trudie Guptill and seconded by Dennis Baker. Clarification of the H2O Technical Services billing is where the District buys polimer. With no further discussion. the motion carried.
It was asked if there is director’s insurance for members of the GLSSWD Commission. If there is insurance, they have it.
There has been no further development on the sale of property to Harris Duininck. Ron is scheduled to call Wayne Larson regarding this on March 1st.
Since Spicer turned down the proposed telephone tower, has the District been approached? The location has been changed. It will be located south and west of the City of Spicer maintenance building.
The New London-Spicer School District athletic department called regarding using the property north of the water plant for golf training. Ron will be meeting with them at the site in the near future. There was mention of having a liability waiver included in any agreement.
A motion to adjourn was made by Clayton Anderson and seconded by Dennis Baker. The motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth Slinden
Secretary
Minutes of the
Green Lake Sanitary
Sewer and Water District Commission
6:00 p.m., Monday, January 23, 2006
GLSSWD
Wastewater Treatment Plant
Present: Harvey Lange, Bill
Taylor, Trudie Guptill, John Bergman, Dennis Baker, Dennis Peterson
Absent: Clayton Anderson
Others present: Ron Hagemeier, Gary Danielson
The meeting was called to order by chairman Harvey Lange at 6 p.m. on Monday, January 23, 2006 at the GLSSWD Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The month of December water loss for Spicer is 40.1% with an end of year average of 18.8%, Green Lake is 44.4% with an end of year average of 29.8%, and New London is 36.3% with an end of year average of 27.4%. The total average for December is 40.3% with an end of year total average of 25.4%.
The yearly water DNR appropriation permit fee has been costing about $450 per year. This year there are some additional fees, referred to as summertime surcharges, which apply to the 2005 pumping amounts. Whatever amount pumped in June, July, and August that is more than the amount pumped in January, a fee of $20.00 per million gallons is added. For 2005 this adds $360.00 to the original $450.00. Also, the temporary appropriation permit expired at the end of 2005. An additional charge of $300.00 is required by the DNR to consider a GLSSWD appropriation request regarding the new permit application reflecting current use levels.
The Minnesota Department of Health connection fee increased $5.21 to $6.36 per connection per year to cover increased operating costs due to the many EPA mandated programs. This is effective 7-1-06 and will be billed quarterly to GLSSWD customers.
There was a presentation at a workshop recently attended by Ron stating if there is a sewer backup creating damage and the District can prove there is a good policy in place showing good maintenance as well as documentation, the District may not be totally responsible for any damage that occurs. Ron has developed such a policy and asked the Commission to approve and adopt the policy. Dennis Baker made a motion to accept the Sewer Collection System Policy as presented with John Bergman seconding. Following some discussion the motion carried. The need for a water policy was also discussed. An ordinance is currently being worked on that will outline a water policy. The Sewer Collection System Policy will be included on the agenda in February since Clayton Anderson, who represents the lake, is not present. There was continued discussion about lake area water leaks and who should be responsible for the repair costs in the future. Harvey requested that this issue also be brought up at the Commission meeting next month when Clayton will be in attendance.
The ice rink located at the New London-Spicer school has been flooded this year using 47,000 gallons of water to date costing $96.35. There has been discussion as to how and by whom this water should be paid for. A motion to bill the City of New London was made by Dennis Baker and seconded by Bill Taylor. The motion carried.
There had been some confusion on the expiration of terms for the Commission members. After going back through the minutes, it was found that John Bergman’s first term expires in 2006 rather than 2008. Bill Taylor will finish his first term in 2006. Harvey Lange and Trudie Guptill will end their second terms in 2006.
A motion to approve the minutes was made by Trudie Guptill and seconded by John Bergman. There being no discussion, the motion carried.
A motion to approve the bills was made by Dennis Peterson and seconded by Dennis Baker. A clarification was requested regarding the contract services for Cummins Power LLC. This is the annual maintenance contract for the ten District generators. With no further discussion, the motion carried.
A letter went out to all Lake Florida residents verifying their property information and intentions of hookups. The construction is on for 2006. The route will be on the west side of Lake George on County Road 9. The process with Diamond Lake will continue when the snow melts.
After unplugging pumps at the #6 and #5 lift stations over the period of a couple weeks, several days were spent lifting manhole covers and narrowing down an area of homes where the problem of heavy duty baby wipes was originating. While going door to door with a memo explaining the situation, a residence admitted to utilizing the product and noted usage will discontinue.
A motion to adjourn was made by Dennis Baker and seconded by Bill Taylor. The motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth Slinden
Secretary