Duluth/North Shore Sanitary District – Board of Managers

Meeting # 64

Date: May 4, 2005, 0700

Board Members Present: Kevin Bovee; Rick Certano; Lars Fladmark, chair; Mary Ann Sironen; Scott Smith

Board Members Absent: None

Others Present: Mel Olson, Mike Appelwick for Eric , John Miller, Clare Carpenter, Carol Surine, Mary Frances Skala, Duane Herold, John Bowen, Jeff Cook, Don McTavish, Gene Elliott, Scott Harder

Minutes to: Jim Anklam, Eric Appelwick, Mike Appelwick, Darryl Bathel, Dan Belden, Bruce Berg, Kelli Boedigheimer, Kevin Bovee , John Bowen, Clare Carpenter, Rick Certano, Jeff Cook, City of Duluth, Duluth City Council, Duluth Township, Lars Fladmark, Greg Garmer, Jane Gilbert, Mark Gottwald, Wendy Gustofson, Scott Harder, Mark Herman, Duane Herold, Lynn Ann Hollatz, Kevin Holm , Dan Jacobson, Laurie Johnson, Al Katz, John Kessler, Lakewood Township, Nancy Larson-St. Louis County, Sue Lawson, Patti Logergren, Mike Mahoney, Joe McGaver, Don McTavish, Larry Moon, Dan Neiman, Mel Olson, PLAWCS, David Pierson, Tom Pulse, Yvonne Rutford, John Schifsky, Dale Schroeder, Dick Sigel, Mary Ann Sironen , Mary Frances Skala, Scott Smith, Kurt Soderberg, Tim Strom, George Sundstrom , Carol Surine, Peg Sweeney, John Thomas, Nelson Thomas, Jonathon Thornton, Pete Weidman, Robin Whaley, Sandy Woolum, Greg Mutchler

Minutes by: Carol Surine and edited by Mary Ann Sironen

Item	Discussion					Action/Conclusion
Approve Minutes	Larry Moon sent minor amendments on the Knife River-Larsmont report to the minutes to Mary Ann Sironen.		Motion by Scott Smith and seconded by Rick Certano to approve the minutes, with the amendment. Unanimously approved.
Treasurer's report	1. Clare Carpenter distributed the Request to Pay invoices for a total of $72,403.99. 2. Bank Balance – May 1, 2005 is $472,825.85 3. Clare Carpenter reported that the PFA 3 is now completely expended. 4. Clare Carpenter presented a draft of financials from Eikill & Schilling. Discussion will be held later in the meeting.						1. Motion by Kevin Bovee to pay the outstanding invoices and approve the Treasurer’s report. Scott Smith seconded. Unanimously approved.
There were no public comments.
Updates Jeff Cook	Jeff Cook stated that he is very happy with the job that Frontier Pipeline is doing. 90-95% of all installations have had inspections on site. Each installation has a 5-minute air test done.
Easements	· John Miller reported that the Duluth City Attorney talked with Rick Certano and the issue with the Water Treatment Plant will be moving forward. · There is concern that the commercial installations are behind schedule. Since these properties are in prime use during the season, it's important that D/NSSD get them hooked up before Memorial Day. · There is speculation that the Shorecrest has been sold and will be closed from 5/15-7/1 for remodeling · Current properties in the operational west section of the project that are not hooked up due to lack of proper easements are the Water Treatment Plant, Brian Malarski, and the Beachway Motel
KR-LSD (L. Moon emailed comments to M.A. Sironen)	· The environmental assessment from the Corps of Engineers has cleared its 30 day comment period and remains with a negative finding. · The KR-LSD Board voted 3 to 2 to ask to be on the 2006 Intended Use Plan for state financing. · They hope to resume discussions soon with WLSSD on the flow allocation for Larsmont. · KR-LSD would like to be informed and included in any discussions over growth in the North Shore Management Zone.
Commun-ications	1. Mary Ann Sironen sent a letter to Christine Penney requesting $2615.43 bill to repay the District for repairs done to her basement wall that was leaking after being drilled to allow access to the sewer. Frontier was authorized to make emergency repairs and added it to the District bill. 2. The Board received an e-mail from Wendy Gustofson regarding the poor condition of Greenwood Rd.
Financial	Scott Harder distributed samples of the balance sheet format provided by Eikill & Schilling. The Board had requested a month to month comparison from the previous report against the budget. Rick Certano volunteered to meet with Eikill & Schilling and give them feedback on the reporting format needed by D/NSSD.
Legal Issues	Mary Frances Skala stated that D/NSSD may want to give NTS broader authority to act on behalf of the board with respect to collections of past due accounts and enforcement of the I&I inspections. Discussion concerned how broad this authority should be; Mary Frances Skala stated it should be short of initiating legal action, such as a real estate lien.			Motion by Mary Ann Sironen to give NTS authority to act on behalf of the board, using any method up to initiation of legal action, in collecting past due accounts and enforcing I&I inspections. Rick Certano seconded. Unanimously approved.
Construct-ion Report	1. Restoration has started. Gravel has been added to Greenwood Rd in three areas, mainly around manholes. 2. Carroll Hawley's grinder pump will be installed next week. 3. At first Frontier thought they should do one house at a time, and complete everything before proceeding to the next one; now decided it is more efficient to put all the grinder pumps in first, and return for restoration. 4. Progress meetings are held on Thursdays at 10 AM in the construction trailer. 5. Pay request for final retainage for Contract B and C 6. Mel Olson has been/will be in the field while Nate Grayson is on military duty. Intern Kristin Sauvola will start 6/9/05. 7. A Skidsteer and operator will be dedicated to restoration and clean-up.
WLSSD	It was discussed that the D/NSSD "Ribbon Cutting" could occur when Knife River hooks up to the D/NSSD-WLSSD line. Mary Ann Sironen will ask Nelson Thomas to see when Rep. Oberstar might be free to attend.
Operations NTS Mike Appelwick distributed the report for Eric.	1. Billing issues discussed. There have been customer requests for D/NSSD to accept credit cards in payment for sewer bills. The Distrit may want to absorb the fees if that’s the preferred way for the non-resident owners to pay. Mary Frances Skala suggested we could do it on a trial basis. 2. Direct payment (from individual's checking accounts) will cost $16 per 200 people PLUS 8¢ per account per month. This will work with the current RVS Billing software.				1. Table this for now. Mary Frances Skala requested that Eric Appelwick track the number of people who request bill paying by credit card. 2. Motion by Rick Certano to support electronic bill payment. Scott Smith seconded. Unanimously approved.
NTS, cont.	● 4/27 Eric Appelwick met with Karen Peterson; the deck issue is now resolved. ● The newsletter was distributed. It includes a thank you to Roger Reeves for promptly notifying NTS of the overflow that occurred. ● Natural gas line main is going as far as the Lakewood Road; NTS is locating the sewer line for the gas co ● Eric Appelwick has plan of attack to deal with frozen lines from the lateral to the road on summer cabins. ● Include an item in the newsletter that the D/NSSD Board reviewed $8900 in past due bills.
No New Business
Old Business		Tabled due to need to close meeting for the next item.
The meeting was closed to the public at 8:30 a.m. to discuss S.J. Lewis matter. The Board and Mary Frances Skala met with Joe Mihalik, counsel from the Fryberger firm, to get an update on the current lawsuit. The closed meeting adjourned at 9:20 a.m.

Approved (date):

Chair Secretary