- Okay, it's five o'clock. We'll call our meeting to order of the City of Luma Utilities Services Board
- for August 24th. And just to remind everyone that our mission at CBU is to enhance the quality of life
- in our community by providing safe, sustainable and high quality drinking water, wastewater and stormwater
- services in a cost-effective manner, promoting public health, economic vitality,
- and environmental stewardship. And our vision is to be the leading municipal water utility organization
- in Indiana. And with that, our first item on our agenda is petitions and communications, which today
- includes a formal appeal of service denial at 3704 South Judd Avenue. And is there somebody here to
- discuss that project?
- doesn't look like it well I'll tell you what we will we will move that to the possibility of the end
- of our meeting for another petitions and communications time period and then the next item is approval
- of the minutes of our previous meeting on August 10th 2026 everybody had a chance to review the minutes
- Nicely done. All in favor say aye. Opposed? Okay. The minutes are approved. Next is approval of our
- standard invoices totaling $1,237,062.59. Any questions on the
- Invoices. Yeah, Steve. Yeah, Chris. Jim. I noticed that there's a fee of a hundred plus thousand dollars
- for legal fees for when it's women. How's that coming? Hi, Chris Wheeler with City Legal.
- I can tell you procedurally that there is a great deal of discovery that is ongoing at the moment. And
- we conducted mediation that the court has received word was unsuccessful. And we are trying to reschedule
- the trial date
- for some time possibly in March. It was supposed to occur in November, but because of additional discovery
- efforts, differences of opinion between the parties, which occurs quite often regarding discovery, everybody
- has come to an agreement grudgingly that perhaps the trials should get moved out to some time more like
- March. So that's the timeframe we're looking at at the moment.
- for a trial date. Doesn't mean that we couldn't still find a way to reach a solution for agreement and
- resolve the matter before trial. That may still happen, but at the moment, we're just right in the middle
- of discovery and trying to move forward with depositions of all the key witnesses, and that's where
- we are right now. The more time, the more legal fees, the more legal fees, the less it's likely
- We're going to get a not going to see is. Yeah, you see some Nick. You see how you'll see. The nice
- thing is that the statute does provide for the opportunity for the court to award us our legal fees,
- so we do have that. We do have that opportunity. Hopefully as we move through the negotiations. Sure.
- Anything else on that item?
- Okay, other questions about our invoices for today? I move that we approve the standard invoices. Second.
- Moved and second to approve standard invoices. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? All right, standard
- invoices are approved. Next is our utility bills for August 13th. 8,200
- $19.24. I move that we approve the utility bills for August 13th. Second. I move and second. All in
- favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? All right. Motion carries. Then next round of utility bills for August
- 20th, $1,861.10. Any questions there? I move that we approve the utility bills for August 20th.
- Second. Moved and seconded for approval of utility bills. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? All right.
- Next are our wire transfers. Totaling $562,000. $562,598. I move that we approve the wire transfers. Second.
- Moved and seconded to approve the wire transfers. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? All right. Wire
- transfers are approved. Next are customer refunds in the amount of $2,920.72. Questions for the refunds?
- We're clearing out some inactive accounts and others. I move that we approve the customer refunds. Second.
- It's been moved and seconded. Do I hear any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? All right.
- Refunds are approved. Next is the special check run totaling $7,215.92. Any questions on those? I move
- that we approve the special check run. Second. Moved and seconded. All in favor say aye.
- All right, special check run is approved. All right, we have consent agenda, and who'll be presenting
- that this evening? All right, Matt. I'm gonna present the consent agenda this evening with three items
- totaling $18,816.83. The first one was with Macalester for $4,273 to do some generator repairs at Butcher.
- The second is another Macalester for $2,543.83 to work on the block heater or to replace the block heater
- for the West booster generator. And the final one is with KLM Engineering for $12,000 for tank inspections
- at Monroe Treatment Plant and our Dilman Treatment Plant. Would any board member like to pull any of
- these items from the consent agenda and discuss them individually?
- Hearing none, if there's no objection, then the consent agenda will be approved as presented.
- Hearing none, the consent agenda is approved, thanks. All right, thank you, Matt. Item six on our agenda
- is requesting approval of an agreement, a water supply contract agreement with the state of Indiana.
- Good afternoon, Chris Wheeler with City Legal,
- The contract before the board is the renewal, essentially, it's the renewal of the existing Monroe water,
- Lake Monroe water removal contract that we have with the state of Indiana. We have asked the state to
- modify the agreement slightly. The terms that we have asked
- to be modified are the amount of water that we can withdraw per day from the lake. The existing contract
- is for 25 million MGDs per day. And we have asked for that to be increased up to 30 million MGD per
- day. And that can be found in enumerated paragraph 1A of the agreement. And then we also asked to extend
- the life of the contract from 20 years to 50 years. And that can be found in enumerated paragraph four.
- Reviewing the contract and comparing it, you'll find that the key remaining terms are all the same.
- They did add additional language that the state requires on their contracts, which are things like e-verify now and
- So the city has to show that they're part of the E-Verify program. Different terms and conditions with
- regards to like, I'm drawing a blank, sorry. But mostly it's stuff that would require us just to say
- we're in compliance with state law and really has nothing to do with the actual withdrawal of water
- from the lake. So it's just, in my opinion, a lot of boilerplate.
- Some of it's not even related or relevant to what we're doing, but the state's required to put that
- language in there just because that's what the state requires for all of their contracts. So the contract
- looks longer when you compare the two, the original and the one that's before you, but for all intents
- and purposes, the main crux of the agreement remains the same. And what we're asking today is for approval
- of that agreement,
- It is still going through the process of being reviewed and approved by the state. They have changed
- a great deal of their processes. So they have a couple of reviewing bodies that still have to look at
- the contract and approve it before it can be signed by all of the various authorities at the state level
- who have to review and sign it as well. So the time frame right now
- which could be subject to change, but the state is very hopeful will be the actual timeframe is to take
- the agreement to the NRAC for first approval by their September 8th meeting and then to take it to the
- NRC for approval at their September 15th meeting. So hopefully we will see their approvals go through
- in September and get signed
- a signed copy of the agreement back I would hope relatively shortly after that time so that we can then
- have our mayor and Director Zeiger and President White sign the agreement as well and then we'll put
- that contract to bed. Any questions? Chris, how does the Corps of Engineers fit in all this?
- With regards to the withdrawal, that's strictly between us and the state who has the control over the
- use of the water in that regard. Where we get in with the Army Corps is with regards to the location
- of our facilities, making sure that we're within easements, making sure that because they own the land
- around the lake, so we're sitting on property that they own.
- So that's where we negotiate and have to deal with the Army Corps. But with regards to this contract,
- the Army Corps doesn't have a say in the agreement. Okay, thanks. Any other questions? I move that we
- approve the agreement with the state of Indiana. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Any other discussion?
- All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed?
- All right, contract our end is approved. And you'll see it after the state has reviewed, approved and
- signed as well. Thank you. Very good. Thank you. Next is requesting approval of the service agreement
- with GAI consultants. Hi, Jane Fleig, utilities engineer. This is a request to approve an agreement
- for professional services for the design of the replacement of the 6th Street limestone arch culvert.
- It's in the 300 block of West 6th Street, pretty much adjacent to the parking lot for the Blooming Foods
- business there along 6th. It was determined in the report that we received in January from GAI consultants
- that it was in very poor condition and needed to be replaced.
- So we have put together this contract with GAI to perform the design services, utility coordination,
- prepare construction documents, et cetera, in the amount of $240,700. And I would be happy to answer
- any questions. Yeah. Thanks, Jane. So if the design costs a quarter of a million dollars, how much is
- the actual
- Replacement on a cost. We don't have an actual engineers estimate yet, but It's going to be expensive.
- It's going to be expensive, unfortunately. Anything else? I move that we approve the service agreement
- with GAI consultants. Second. Moving seconded.
- Any other discussion? Jane, I'm thinking for a minute, we do culverts, county does bridges, right? Okay.
- Yeah, and this is a culvert. Actually, when GAI did the limestone culvert investigations, it was 6th
- Street, 4th Street by Wonder Lab, and then there's one that I didn't know about until last year, Roger Street.
- close to where the Army Navy surplus used to be. They inspected all of those and the 4th Street limestone
- arch and the 6th and the Roger Street limestone arch are in much better condition. Roger Street needs some
- retucking of the limestone inside, possibly some concrete pouring around the bottom. And that is actually
- included in this design as well. We will have the same contractor while they're in town enter into there
- and get that repaired, those repairs done. But I think we're in good shape for definitely for 4th Street.
- And then if we would do these repairs for Roger Street, it'll be some time before we have to look at
- those again. Okay, any other discussion?
- for the question. Oh that's right we are all right it's been moved and seconded all in favor say aye.
- Opposed? All right motion carries thank you Jane. All right next is the request of approval for a service
- agreement with HNTB for water system design services.
- Kevin white capital projects coordinator. I'm actually going to do number nine first. It'll make a little
- bit more sense Okay So this one is for the HNTB the hydraulic modeling for a total contract amount of
- two hundred eighteen thousand dollars and This will allow HNTB to
- expand our current hydraulic flow model. We have one, but it hasn't been updated in a little while,
- so we're going to be concentrating on water mains six inches and larger, and they'll update all of the
- current information, tank information, some SCADA information into the flow model, which will allow
- them to then create three future
- Model scenarios that that kind of that show our demand so that will allow us to determine the system
- resiliency and Also for potential locations to do any necessary upgrades to meet future demands Happy
- to answer any questions related to that Okay, so you want us to approve item nine I Can go ahead with
- eight if you want me to do eight now. I just that's fine. Okay, I
- So item nine then is with HNTB for hydraulic modeling and system-wide improvements for $218,000, right?
- Yes, sir, that's correct. OK. Good. Any questions for Kevin? All right. I move that we approve the service
- agreement for the hydraulic modeling with HNTB Corporation.
- Moved and seconded all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? All right it's approved we'll back up then.
- Thank you. All right so the second one is also with HNTB for as needed water system design services
- so as a result of the flow modeling any of the necessary locations that will need improvements this
- will allow them to actively start
- to actively start design without having to bring separate design contracts to the board. So this will
- directly relate to the hydraulic modeling. Okay. And that is for a not to exceed amount of $250,000,
- but would just be based on an as needed rate. Okay, any questions for Kevin on this one?
- approve the as needed water system wide design services agreement with HNTB Corporation. Okay, it's
- been moved and seconded. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? All right, motion carries. Thank you.
- Thank you. Okay, our next item then is requesting approval of the service agreement with CHA Consulting.
- Hello, I'm Dan Hudson, Capital Projects Manager, CBU. CBU, we use the qualification-based procedure
- RFQ, RFP process to identify the engineering firms best suited for the Blucher Pool Wastewater Treatment
- Plant Rehabilitation and Upgrade Project.
- After reviewing several firms' qualification, including the technical approach, wastewater treatment
- experience, project team, understanding of CBU needs, we narrowed down to two firms, highly qualified
- firms, and we asked them to submit a RFP. After the RFP review, we found that a firm called CHA Consultants
- was the most qualified to do the job, and that was for $2.375 million for the professional engineering
- services that included design, evaluation, and construction phase engineering. This 2.375 million CHA
- engineering contract is essentially a roadmap for major rehabilitation of
- It touches more than 30 major plant systems, infrastructure areas, from the headworks, clarifiers, through
- sludge pumping, dewatering, and chemical feed controls, and site improvement. The goal was not only
- to replace aging equipment, but to improve reliability, redundancy, and energy efficiency,
- operator safety and maintainability. CHA will take this project from evaluation design through permitting
- and construction phase engineering. At this point, I just want to remind everyone that this is a professional
- engineering contract, not a construction contract. The construction contract is expected to be a separate
- contract and will be
- substantially larger than this. I'm open to questions. Okay. Questions? Good explanation. Thank you.
- Is he here? Oh, by the way, Andy Scales from CHA Consultant is here if you have any
- questions you'd like to talk to the consultant. Where are they located? Excuse me? Where are they located?
- Indianapolis. I don't know the address. Hi, Andy Scales with CHA Consulting. So we're located in Indianapolis
- downtown in the Capitol building and then we also have offices in Evansville and the Goatee. We about
- a year ago did an acquisition of Midwestern Engineers.
- So that group in Lagotia is also part of our team. So we've got in the Midwest area, roughly 60 or so
- employees in the water waste water space. Thank you. Andy, could you tell us some other similar projects
- you've done around the state? Absolutely. So we're doing very similar work right now for the town of
- Jasper, Boonville, Indiana, the city of Boonville, the city of Washington. We are doing
- some work up in Culver, getting ready to kick off with that. We've got a large project in Richmond,
- Indiana that we're doing similar work for, so a lot of that here locally. And then CHA as a company
- is mostly all parts of the eastern United States, so we're about 2,300 employees. We've got 46 offices
- from New York down the coast, Pennsylvania, Virginia,
- North and South Carolina, Florida, Texas, Indiana, Ohio. So we're well versed in this and across the
- organization, we're probably about 250 water and wastewater staff and employees and engineers. So certainly
- something we have capacity to jump into. And as a Bloomington resident, historically, I'm looking forward
- to getting to work on this project. Great, thank you. Thank you. Any other questions for
- Either of these gentlemen. Maybe a two part. So number one, what's our timeline on getting this going?
- And number two, which might be a question over here, when we're ready for the construction, is that
- dependent on a sewer rate case to be able to do the projects? We're working on one and it will be part
- of that, yeah. Part of that, OK.
- Design we expect this year soon within a month or so depending on the approval hanging to be able to
- fund Yes, we do we have funds in the budget for this and actually we have budgeted the construction
- too Okay, so we're we're ready to go. It's just a matter of Getting it going. I don't think the construction
- is going to start until next year and It's maybe multi-year
- a couple of your projects. It's a big project. Okay, thank you. Great. I move that we approve the service
- agreement with CHA Consulting. Second. It's been moved and seconded to approve the service agreement
- with CHA Consulting. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Thank you. All right,
- our next item is requesting approval.
- A service agreement with Bluestone Tree Incorporated. Zach Bernworth, Assistant Superintendent of Blucher
- Pool. I've been covering for Dillman Assistant Superintendent while they were searching for a new one.
- We're taking on the job of getting the dam cleared down at the EQ basin at the Dillman Wastewater
- trying to have Bluestone come in and do that. I walked out and forgot the agreement that had the pictures
- on it and everything. My apologies. No problem. It's clearing the whole south. The south end of the
- EQ basin is a dam, and they're wanting to clear the south side of it and the southeast side of it. So
- Bluestone has the equipment, the manpower to do so, and the city doesn't have the equipment to do it, so. Okay.
- Thank you. Any questions? Yeah. How many trees are we talk is a large swath of force. It's a pretty
- good swath, but they're all like sapling size. Perfect. They're not. They're not big trees at all. OK,
- I'd say the Max is probably 12 inch. If that yeah. Thank you and they will be spraying. To make sure
- that it stays clear. Hmm.
- Okay, any other questions? All right. Move that we approve the service agreement with Blue Stone Tree
- Incorporated. Second. Okay, it's been moved and seconded. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed?
- Motion carries. Thank you. Next then is requesting approval of service agreement with Christopher B.
- Burke Engineering LLC.
- I wore my tall shoes today too. I'm not quite tall enough. I'm Kelsey, the Tony Assistant Director for
- Environmental. I'm presenting to you today a service agreement with Christopher Burke Engineering for
- $517,270. So we went through a rigorous solicitation process for our Clear Creek Corridor Renewal Project.
- which is going to be a reconstruction of the limestone block walls of Clear Creek. We're at Daylights,
- just at First Street, all the way to Switchyard Park. It's a hundred-year-old construction back in the
- WPA era, so the limestone block walls have been failing for some time in many locations. So this will
- give us an opportunity to create a safer drainageway with better capacity. We have a vision for
- you know, more flood storage, water quality treatment, and just a reinvigoration of the entire corridor.
- So this is going to be a very large-scale project that will happen over a long period of time, but we
- are really excited to take the first step to contract out a feasibility study. We had so many wonderful
- firms submit proposals for this. We initially received
- 10 proposals that were incredible just through the request for qualifications phase. We narrowed it
- down to five. I was hoping we could narrow it down to fewer, but there were just so many great proposals.
- So we had five firms come in, do presentations, just spent so much time and effort really trying to
- get this contract. Kristerberg pulled ahead. They are partnering with Ratio Architects, who was the
- original design firm for Miller Showers Park. The same architect will be on this project.
- as well as other partners. And we had other department heads in these presentations as well, so we got
- feedback from other folks in the city. So we're just really excited to get this large project started.
- I'm happy to talk through more of the scope, or I'm happy to answer questions you might have. Anyone
- have any questions? Yeah, go ahead.
- Is, are these limestone arches, these culverts, correct? Is that what you said? It's an open channel,
- actually. Okay, so is this, I guess, are these areas similar to what we have at Indiana Avenue, what
- we ran into over there, or is this a completely different thing? This will be completely different,
- because this is all an open stream channel, so it's not going underground. There are gonna be bridges
- and other crossings to consider,
- but this is the downstream section. Jane and everyone here at CB did an excellent job with that six
- in Indiana where it went all the way underground and this is sort of the next phase where it's all daylighted
- out in the open now, not underground infrastructure. So are we at risk of having someone designate these
- structures historic? Yes. This is in the proposal that they'll be coordinating with state agencies
- doing all the consultations needed, assuming that the limestone block walls will be designated as historic.
- We are assuming that they will? We're prepared to do the work if determined necessary, yes.
- And this proposal, I guess, at what point
- If they are designated historic, as I recall, Jane's project required a large outlay of cash from CBU
- to do this. I understand the need of fixing and repairing and planning for the future of this, but I'm
- just concerned that we're going to get this designated historic and the number is going to quadruple.
- I'm very concerned about that. This is going to be a large project and there are many things that could
- make that cost increase. This is the initial feasibility study where they'll do the preliminary engineering,
- preliminary coordination, just to give us an idea of what we're going to be looking at. So I guess then
- for the feasibility study, does this come to light in the physical, like when we get this feasibility
- study back, is it going to outline
- what the cost of designating these areas historic is going to cost to either us or to somebody else
- who's got to pay for it. Yes, so the final product we'll be expecting from this is a preliminary engineering
- report with three design alternatives. So under phase two task three, they specifically spell out notable
- historic buildings and limestone wall features. They'll consult with
- the state's Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology. Basically, they're going to look at those
- three alternatives and do a preliminary analysis to basically bring it into the design phase to help
- reduce the amount of mitigation that may be required and how much we would like to spend basically to
- basically what the state tells us that would be required, trying to balance how much it would cost.
- Thank you. It starts at First Street. There's a rally burger just southeast of the Seminary Square Kroger.
- That First Street is where it opens up.
- It goes through Dodd Street, Grimes, and we included the section south of Grimes Street because it's
- still in that limestone block wall. So we're taking that whole corridor and we're going to design it
- from start to finish because it makes sense to do all the modeling at once. Construction will probably
- be phased since it's such a large area, but we're trying to do as much comprehensive study of the area
- as we can at once so that it's more continuous as it goes.
- Originally built. Um, a lot of the WPA era, um, it was in the thirties, so I don't, I haven't seen anything
- on the blocks. I would say it. I've seen some other WPA era, um, limestone crossings around the Bloomington
- or the county that had like a 1930, 1933 kind of etched in the limestone. So it's nearing a hundred
- years. A hundred years. Isn't that bad.
- We certainly, I mean, it did its job for so long, so. Yeah. OK. Other questions for Kelsey? I move that
- we approve the service agreement with Christopher B. Burke Engineering LLC. Second. OK. And then do
- we move and second it? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? All right. Motion carries. Thank you. Thank
- you all so much.
- All right, next item is approval of the on-call service agreement with Deckard Land Survey. All right.
- Good evening, Philippine Engineering. So what we've recognized is working with TND and with Brian Blake,
- our land acquisition and easement person, as we look at easements and use of those easements, we need
- to locate those before we get in and do any
- land disturbance or tree removal, as well as some properties we own that also have trees and other properties
- in close proximity that would affect where we can bring equipment in. So we saw a need here to just
- have a land surveyor on call that we could have come out and stake a property line or an easement line
- for us before we started any construction work. And a lot of times that needs to happen pretty quick
- and it's hard to get back to the board
- And then there are small amounts individual here and there. And so we just felt like this was perfect
- for an on-call. Not to exceed $20,000. OK. Questions for Phil? I move that we approve the call of service
- agreement with Decker Land Survey. Second. Moved and seconded. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed?
- All right. Motion carried. Thank you.
- All right, do we have any old business from the board? Old business from staff? All right, new business
- from the board? New business from staff? All right. We haven't had any subcommittees since our last
- meeting, I don't think. We do have a property planning subcommittee meeting planned for
- September the 8th for our next meeting Staff reports Then this evening all right anyone here for public
- comment petitions or communications Yes, I Don't think that the folks who wished to discuss the decision by a
- the utilities department to deny their request for connection have appeared, but I did want to address
- the board. We had some folks who own property outside of city limits located at 3704 South Judd Street
- request that we allow them to connect to our sanitary sewer because they have a
- septic system that's not functioning properly anymore. From their request, it appears that they have
- the ability to rebuild the system, but it's going to be very costly for them. As you all may be aware
- and can recall, we have very strict limited opportunities for
- property owners out in the county to connect to our sanitary sewer and they are twofold. If you can
- voluntarily annex into the city so that you are now a part of the municipal boundaries of the city,
- then you can connect. Otherwise, you have to rely upon a finding from the economic and sustainable
- development department that the development being proposed for a property
- is strategic economic development that would do two things. It would contribute to job creation for
- the community at large, not just the city, but even Monroe County, but to contribute to job creation
- and wage growth, which has not happened with regards to this property. We don't have an administrative
- remedy for the denial of a connection, so parties can feel free to go straight to
- Court if they wish to to try and get a judge to weigh in So there's really nothing for the board to
- do in these situations Because our rules and regulations have are pretty strict. They just say if you
- don't have one of these two Things going on then you shall not connect the Brightline rule is Property
- owners of the county shall not connect unless you have these two things and if you don't you just don't
- get to connect so I
- I wanted to bring those up as a reminder. We've referred to this as an appeal. It isn't really, it's
- just an opportunity for them to come in and express their concerns with the board, but there isn't anything
- really for the board to do. So I just wanted to remind the board of that role at the moment. So.
- And Chris, that's because that property is not, not, it's not contiguous. Yeah, it doesn't share enough
- It doesn't share any boundaries with municipal property, so it cannot establish that required one-eighth
- contiguity of its property lines with the city to allow it to do a voluntary annexation into the city.
- And the city is not looking to involuntarily annex that property, so there isn't an annexation going
- on. And I'm assuming they're appealing because the line runs
- in front of their property that they could just connect to? I've not asked GIS or anybody to show me
- that. They are under the impression, and they could very well be right, that there is a sewer line running
- in front of their property. They mentioned that they had neighbors who are connected, so I don't know
- if we have sewer there, but that does not, it has no bearing on whether they can connect at this point
- in time. I just think it's very unfortunate.
- people might all very much agree with that. It'd be great if we could, but given the condition of annexation
- these days, the lack of authority that waivers provide or sense of security that a municipality might
- have for waivers, we just don't have a situation where we can allow connections right now. It's a good
- discussion, Chris. I think it's one of those things that
- We've been mindful of that our rules don't allow these kind of connections, but yet we believe that
- for the best outcome for health in the community is oftentimes not a failing septic system. Correct.
- The state would like to see septics go away and that folks get connected.
- But the state also doesn't want to see the municipalities grow, so we're kind of in a weird position.
- It's a very awkward position to be in, yes. The only way we could fix that is if we change our administrative
- rules, right? Certainly, yes, and that would have to go through a process discussion with the director
- and probably the mayor.
- Not going to happen this evening. Yeah. So we're in the near future. Probably not. Since these were
- just approved like in January, right? All right. Thank you for that update. Any other petitions
- or communications? Any else? Okay, we will stand adjourned. Thank you very much.