WEBVTT 00:00:00.450 --> 00:00:08.096 - We call our meeting to order for November 2nd, the Utility Services Board for the City of Bloomington 00:00:08.096 --> 00:00:15.667 - on a reminder that our mission is to enhance the quality of life in our community by providing safe, 00:00:15.667 --> 00:00:23.312 - sustainable, and high quality drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater services in a cost-effective 00:00:23.312 --> 00:00:29.534 - manner, promoting public health, economic vitality, and environmental stewardship. 00:00:30.306 --> 00:00:39.198 - Our vision is to be the leading municipal water utility organization in Indiana. All right, our first 00:00:39.198 --> 00:00:48.089 - item then, is there any petitions or communications from the public? Any public members here to speak 00:00:48.089 --> 00:00:56.894 - on any items not on our agenda tonight? Yeah, come on up to the podium and just give us your name so 00:00:56.894 --> 00:00:59.422 - we can get it in the record. 00:01:03.426 --> 00:01:09.958 - Good evening, my name's Barry Lemming. I've lived in the Bloomington area for about 20 years. I own 00:01:09.958 --> 00:01:16.555 - two successful businesses here that I run for about 18 years. I purchased, my wife and I purchased a 00:01:16.555 --> 00:01:23.348 - condo in Peppergrass at a sheriff's sale a few months ago. And when we went to get the water connected, 00:01:23.348 --> 00:01:29.945 - I was there and the water was, I could hear the water running in the toilet and the guy, the utility 00:01:29.945 --> 00:01:31.774 - guy said, yeah, we need to, 00:01:32.162 --> 00:01:37.880 - figure this out, so I shut the water off at the toilet. And then we did not go back to the house for 00:01:37.880 --> 00:01:43.655 - about a month and a half, because we had other projects that we were doing. But the previous owner of 00:01:43.655 --> 00:01:49.600 - the property, who had lost it for not being able to pay bank payments, obviously, contacted me and asked 00:01:49.600 --> 00:01:55.375 - if she could go back to that property and get some of her things, because she had left a lot of stuff 00:01:55.375 --> 00:02:01.150 - in the house. And I said, sure, that's no problem. Take whatever you want. You've got a couple weeks. 00:02:01.602 --> 00:02:09.324 - Anyway, it was about a month later, month and a half later, I went back, opened the door, and I could 00:02:09.324 --> 00:02:17.045 - hear the toilet running. I said, oh, no. Went and shut the valve off, and a few days later, I get the 00:02:17.045 --> 00:02:25.070 - bill for $1,120-some. I filled out the request form, the online form for the adjustment, and I was denied 00:02:25.070 --> 00:02:30.142 - that because they said that once it enters the sewer, that there's 00:02:30.338 --> 00:02:38.303 - no adjustment for that. And then I scheduled a meeting with Matt Havy and Michelle. And they basically 00:02:38.303 --> 00:02:46.190 - said the same thing, that they don't have the authority to make any adjustments on it. But I'm really 00:02:46.190 --> 00:02:51.294 - here for two reasons. One, to ask for an adjustment in this case. 00:02:51.522 --> 00:02:59.589 - I know it's not a lot for CBU, but for a working family like myself, nearly $1,200, well it is $1,200 00:02:59.589 --> 00:03:07.576 - now with the late fee that just was added on. It's a huge amount for me. But I'm also here because I 00:03:07.576 --> 00:03:12.638 - see a problem. And the problem is, well, first of all, I worked 00:03:13.154 --> 00:03:21.065 - Many years ago, I was a software developer. I wrote programs for utility districts, for banks, for real 00:03:21.065 --> 00:03:28.824 - estate companies, and for some government agencies. So I know quite a bit about software development. 00:03:28.824 --> 00:03:36.430 - And one of the core concepts of a system development is called safe by default. And what that means 00:03:36.430 --> 00:03:40.766 - is whenever there's a default option or a default field, 00:03:41.410 --> 00:03:48.273 - the programmer puts the safe option in there. Like if you're gonna make a bank transfer, you 00:03:48.273 --> 00:03:55.653 - don't automatically, it doesn't automatically pop up to $9,909,000, it pops up to zero, right? It's 00:03:55.653 --> 00:04:03.106 - the safe value. And the problem that I see here is that the utility district informed me that a note 00:04:03.106 --> 00:04:09.822 - was placed on the door. And that's great, you have somebody's home. But if nobody's there, 00:04:10.690 --> 00:04:19.537 - You know, it's not helping anybody. And Matt also informed me that I had the option to enroll in the 00:04:19.537 --> 00:04:28.385 - program for the automatic alerts. And there is what I don't understand. As a software developer, why 00:04:28.385 --> 00:04:37.758 - are you requiring customers to go through a lengthy process of setting up an account, creating a password, 00:04:37.758 --> 00:04:39.422 - filling out forms, 00:04:40.418 --> 00:04:48.396 - to get an emergency basic service that should be automatic. I did some research, and approximately 70% 00:04:48.396 --> 00:04:56.296 - of utility districts that offer emergency alert services automatically inscribe their customers in it 00:04:56.296 --> 00:05:04.661 - and give them the option to opt out. But here it's backwards. Here, instead of automatically being enrolled 00:05:04.661 --> 00:05:07.294 - in it with the option to opt out, 00:05:08.066 --> 00:05:14.648 - You have to physically go in and create, you have to go through a long process in order to get notified. 00:05:14.648 --> 00:05:20.980 - And like when the gentleman said at the introduction of the meeting, City of Bloomington wants to be 00:05:20.980 --> 00:05:27.750 - a leader. And I think one of the most important things that a utility district has to take in consideration 00:05:27.750 --> 00:05:34.270 - is the environment and the safety of the customers, safety of the environment, safety of the customers. 00:05:36.706 --> 00:05:41.914 - And by doing that, by the way the process is now, by forcing your customers to go through this process, 00:05:41.914 --> 00:05:47.123 - a lot of them aren't going to do it. A lot of them aren't even going to notice it. I didn't even notice 00:05:47.123 --> 00:05:52.331 - it. I just saw the email. I didn't open it. And I already knew the water was turned on. I saw the email 00:05:52.331 --> 00:05:57.540 - that said, welcome to city of Bloomington or something. Your water's turned on. I didn't open the email 00:05:57.540 --> 00:06:01.246 - and go through it and say, oh, yeah, man, I need to go set up an account. 00:06:02.562 --> 00:06:09.303 - You know, like I said, 70% of the utility districts already do that automatically. Duke Energy, they 00:06:09.303 --> 00:06:15.577 - sends out alert notices automatically. I'll just go through a list of some of them. La Porte, 00:06:15.577 --> 00:06:22.451 - Indiana does. Indiana American Water Company does. Northbrook, Illinois does. Cleveland, Ohio. Owasso, 00:06:22.451 --> 00:06:29.259 - North Carolina, Kansas City, San Francisco. A lot of utility companies, or most of them, do that. And 00:06:29.259 --> 00:06:32.062 - my biggest issue is with the environment. 00:06:32.546 --> 00:06:39.706 - You know, I think I was charged with 70,000 gallons of water. And that's wasted. The energy is wasted. 00:06:39.706 --> 00:06:46.866 - The filtration of it, the purification of it, the sewer process treatment plant, that's all wasted all 00:06:46.866 --> 00:06:54.095 - because the software developer or whoever makes the decisions here chose the wrong answer. Because safe 00:06:54.095 --> 00:07:01.950 - by default is automatically enroll people and let them opt out if they want to. And I know I'm not the only one. 00:07:02.050 --> 00:07:08.154 - I know it happens all the time. It's like you're catching most of the people. You've got the people 00:07:08.154 --> 00:07:14.319 - who are signed up. Your system's there. You're going to catch them. If there's a water usage way out 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:20.423 - of normal, they're going to be notified. And if it's owner-occupied property, they're living there, 00:07:20.423 --> 00:07:26.527 - you're going to get a notice on the door. But if it's not, it doesn't fall in those two categories. 00:07:26.527 --> 00:07:31.838 - If it's an investor or the property's vacant for whatever reason, they're on vacation. 00:07:31.938 --> 00:07:39.288 - Uh, or they're between renters and the owner hasn't signed up. It's you're creating waste and I don't 00:07:39.288 --> 00:07:46.565 - honestly don't see any viable reason for that. Maybe there's something I don't know, but what is the 00:07:46.565 --> 00:07:53.915 - reason? What is the logic? Why do you make them go through this process instead of just automatically 00:07:53.915 --> 00:07:57.950 - enroll them and say, Hey, you'll re you'll be enrolled. 00:07:58.466 --> 00:08:04.271 - But if you don't want these notices for whatever reason, why wouldn't you want to be notified if your 00:08:04.271 --> 00:08:10.132 - water has been used? Ridiculous amount. But if you don't for some reason, check the box. Good. And now 00:08:10.132 --> 00:08:16.108 - we're not wasting millions of gallons of water. We're not wasting millions of gallons of sewer treatment 00:08:16.108 --> 00:08:21.913 - and electricity and energy. And all it is is just doing one simple little change to your software. So 00:08:21.913 --> 00:08:27.262 - those are the two things I'm asking to consider that for the environment, for your customers. 00:08:28.066 --> 00:08:35.551 - And yes, I would also like to be able to get a discount on this. And I probably won't charge you my 00:08:35.551 --> 00:08:43.335 - regular $25,000 software consultation fee. Just kidding. Thank you. Maybe we need a credit. Yeah. Well, 00:08:43.335 --> 00:08:51.044 - thank you, Mr. Lang. We appreciate you coming down and raising those on really two points there. We'll 00:08:51.044 --> 00:08:57.406 - take a look at our normal procedures that there's some limits that we have according 00:08:58.306 --> 00:09:07.435 - um, state and local regulations that we have and what we can, um, what we can allow in terms of, uh, 00:09:07.435 --> 00:09:16.834 - forgiving and not forgiving, uh, fees for usage. There are some limitations. So, uh, we'll have to take 00:09:16.834 --> 00:09:26.686 - a look at that and, and by our next meeting, we can, uh, we can get a definitive answer for you. On the, uh, 00:09:26.914 --> 00:09:34.889 - the software idea, we'll take a look at that too. That's an interesting idea to automatically enroll 00:09:34.889 --> 00:09:42.785 - people and ask them if they want to opt out. The only thing I think that, the only thing that would 00:09:42.785 --> 00:09:50.840 - be a challenge in that that we'd have to work on is when you initially sign up, you don't know really 00:09:50.840 --> 00:09:56.446 - how much you're going to use. And it takes a while to figure that out. 00:09:56.546 --> 00:10:07.975 - Yeah, I've got mindset pretty low and I regularly get the alerts depending upon how many people are 00:10:07.975 --> 00:10:19.975 - running the washing machine at my house when family comes to visit and things like that. My alerts start 00:10:19.975 --> 00:10:25.918 - to pop up. And because I I've kind of looked to see 00:10:27.234 --> 00:10:36.218 - what my normal monthly usage is. And I wouldn't have known where to start with that if I didn't have 00:10:36.218 --> 00:10:45.202 - a baseline. But you've got a good point. You've got a good point. Yeah. Right. The kind of situation 00:10:45.202 --> 00:10:53.118 - that you were in would have made sense that we use the software to send people a notice. 00:10:53.762 --> 00:11:00.182 - And that makes sense because of the kind of transient population that we have. We have situations like 00:11:00.182 --> 00:11:06.539 - this where we have renters and things. Sometimes it goes between different accounts. It could be that 00:11:06.539 --> 00:11:12.835 - people have moved out. It hasn't clicked over to the property owner, things like that. But those are 00:11:12.835 --> 00:11:19.067 - things we can work through. Good points. Any comments from the board? Yeah, Amanda? I think it's an 00:11:19.067 --> 00:11:23.742 - excellent suggestion. And I think it's something that we should definitely 00:11:24.066 --> 00:11:30.142 - research at a minimum. Um, there's, you know, there's got to be something that we can say, you know, 00:11:30.142 --> 00:11:36.398 - that what would be considered an excessive use. You let individuals know that we're doing this and then 00:11:36.398 --> 00:11:42.474 - they opt in and they go in and set it themselves. The gentleman that was just up there. I'm sorry. I 00:11:42.474 --> 00:11:48.730 - did not catch, catch her name. Um, also mentioned himself that, you know, he got an email and he didn't 00:11:48.730 --> 00:11:51.678 - read it. We're all humans. We all don't do that. 00:11:51.938 --> 00:11:59.754 - with many, many times. I do believe it will cause a lot of questions for our customer service department 00:11:59.754 --> 00:12:07.792 - when they're getting these, when individuals get emails, they're gonna make a phone call and say something, 00:12:07.792 --> 00:12:15.385 - but it opens the conversation and that'll be a short period of time while that's being introduced. So 00:12:15.385 --> 00:12:20.446 - I think it's an excellent idea and I can't believe that we haven't, 00:12:20.546 --> 00:12:28.005 - thought that through before. We've made it an option, you know. Yeah. But to be proactive. Yeah. The 00:12:28.005 --> 00:12:35.539 - false study might be different. Again, going back to your comment, Kirk, you know, are the transition 00:12:35.539 --> 00:12:43.367 - of individuals that live here, you know, we know which one, you know, we know which properties are rental 00:12:43.367 --> 00:12:49.054 - properties, even if you just assign a number that based on historically what 00:12:49.186 --> 00:13:06.880 - someone has used to be a baseline. I definitely would like to see us research this and see if it is 00:13:06.880 --> 00:13:09.534 - a possibility. 00:13:09.730 --> 00:13:16.086 - interested very much to hear the research that we'll take the time to do over the next two weeks before 00:13:16.086 --> 00:13:22.258 - our next meeting. Can you just, since you mentioned that you'd received an email, just so I'm clear, 00:13:22.258 --> 00:13:28.614 - can you please share how you set up your service for you to receive the bill for that property? I don't 00:13:28.614 --> 00:13:34.970 - remember. I mean, I just went through the basic process. And obviously, I'm not living there. But yeah, 00:13:34.970 --> 00:13:36.926 - I mean, it asks for your email. 00:13:37.250 --> 00:13:44.585 - So you did you go online to set it up and then you said I'm just I mean I guess because mine's been 00:13:44.585 --> 00:13:51.920 - set up previously so I've not you know set up the utility and so you know I didn't know if you came 00:13:51.920 --> 00:13:59.695 - in here to this customer service and you went online. I think Matt mentioned that it gives you the option 00:13:59.695 --> 00:14:06.590 - to sign up for for paperless billing and that that's where you sign up for the notifications. 00:14:07.106 --> 00:14:13.279 - Well, I don't want papers building because I'm old school and I've got a file for each of my properties 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:19.392 - and I put physically put the receipt in each once and then go, you know, just that's how I do my book. 00:14:19.392 --> 00:14:25.683 - So I don't want papers of billing. I don't I don't know if the option was elsewhere or it was only within 00:14:25.683 --> 00:14:31.856 - the paper was building, but it should be automatic and just a note there to say, hey, if you don't want 00:14:31.856 --> 00:14:34.942 - this, click this box and we won't do it. Thank you. 00:14:40.738 --> 00:14:47.782 - billing? Yes, I met with Matt and Michelle, and they said they don't have authority to do anything. 00:14:47.782 --> 00:14:54.825 - So some things I think are clear to us who've been on the board a long time. Number one is if water 00:14:54.825 --> 00:15:01.939 - goes out, there's no decision that we can make that would reimburse your money. That's the rule. And 00:15:01.939 --> 00:15:08.983 - part of it is fairness, that if we did allow you not to pay, that it would be distributed among all 00:15:08.983 --> 00:15:10.462 - the other ratepayers 00:15:10.690 --> 00:15:19.757 - paying for your water. In any case, it's not anything that we can overturn. However, the sewer part 00:15:19.757 --> 00:15:28.915 - of it is reimbursable. That is, you can get a reduction because it was, is that not true? Well, even 00:15:28.915 --> 00:15:38.073 - in certain circumstances, yeah. Like if it doesn't go through. Yeah. I think we need to, yeah. We've 00:15:38.073 --> 00:15:40.158 - done that in the past. 00:15:41.794 --> 00:15:48.688 - Yeah. Well, hi. Chris Wheeler with City Legal. So if water goes through the meter, as long as the meter 00:15:48.688 --> 00:15:55.317 - is correctly functioning, there is no alteration that can be made. If it gets metered, it has to be 00:15:55.317 --> 00:16:02.012 - paid for. The utilities department can't and doesn't ask what you're using the water for and doesn't 00:16:02.012 --> 00:16:08.972 - care how much you use. If it goes through the meter, you got to pay for it. On the back end, what you're 00:16:08.972 --> 00:16:11.358 - suggesting though is there are some 00:16:11.490 --> 00:16:18.126 - instances where a correction can be made on the wastewater side. And that is if you can show that the 00:16:18.126 --> 00:16:24.762 - water didn't enter the wastewater system. So you have to show there was a break in the line somewhere 00:16:24.762 --> 00:16:31.463 - out in the yard or in somewhere where it didn't get into the sewer system. And in that situation, then 00:16:31.463 --> 00:16:37.969 - there's an opportunity to reduce the sewer side by a percentage. But in this case, because it was a 00:16:37.969 --> 00:16:40.702 - toilet. It was entering the system. Yeah. 00:16:40.802 --> 00:16:48.881 - So there isn't any opportunity on that side either, unfortunately. I guess the only, the other thing 00:16:48.881 --> 00:16:57.120 - I would suggest that Matt probably told you is that we do have a provision where you could pay off the 00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:05.439 - bill over time without being in arrears. Was that communicated? I assume that the toilet malfunctioned. 00:17:05.439 --> 00:17:10.398 - Is that what happened or did somebody turn the water back on? 00:17:10.594 --> 00:17:17.180 - No, that's a different problem. I believe the lady that the previous owner, when she came to get her 00:17:17.180 --> 00:17:23.767 - things, I believe she turned the toilet on, and you just didn't tell me about it. Because that's she 00:17:23.767 --> 00:17:30.353 - was the only person that I know of that was in the property after I turned off the toilet. Yeah. OK. 00:17:30.353 --> 00:17:37.005 - Well, yeah. I would also suggest, in addition to the door hangers, because this happened to me. I had 00:17:37.005 --> 00:17:37.918 - a line break. 00:17:38.146 --> 00:17:45.452 - I saw the door hanger because I work at home. I'm home all the time. But when that happened, I thought 00:17:45.452 --> 00:17:52.617 - if I didn't see this, I would have had no idea until my next bill. And it's going to happen over and 00:17:52.617 --> 00:17:59.781 - over again. Yeah. So I think a really easy thing, no matter what the software developers are able to 00:17:59.781 --> 00:18:05.598 - do, would be just to contact the property email or whatever, some other form than 00:18:06.338 --> 00:18:14.076 - the door hangar. Especially when the service address is different from the billing address because then 00:18:14.076 --> 00:18:21.740 - you know whoever is paying the bill doesn't live there. I think anytime I mean people could be out for 00:18:21.740 --> 00:18:29.702 - any reason or not use their front door or whatever. You have something if we've sent a human to physically 00:18:29.702 --> 00:18:34.910 - deliver a hang tack to a door. So we know that we have had an address 00:18:35.490 --> 00:18:42.618 - So what would it take for a human or, you know, or a report to spit out the next day to say this has 00:18:42.618 --> 00:18:49.676 - happened and customer service could not then say, let's make a phone call because it's still going, 00:18:49.676 --> 00:18:57.087 - you know, when there's been no contact from the customer or start with the phone call instead of sending 00:18:57.087 --> 00:19:01.886 - someone out. But does our system does it do text messaging as well? 00:19:05.090 --> 00:19:12.606 - We so we worked with Tyler to do Tyler notify for delinquent accounts because we had a similar situation, 00:19:12.606 --> 00:19:20.122 - but instead it was Someone wasn't aware that their account was delinquent. And so we had worked on having 00:19:20.122 --> 00:19:26.078 - text messages sent as an alert so I think it is a natural progression that we could 00:19:26.594 --> 00:19:33.628 - I mean, we'd have to look into it, obviously, but it is a natural progression that we might also be 00:19:33.628 --> 00:19:40.942 - able to notify customers the same way we now are able to with their delinquent accounts. But yeah, that 00:19:40.942 --> 00:19:48.046 - was kind of the first not opt-in text message service we'd worked on. Yeah, I can remember. I know I 00:19:48.046 --> 00:19:51.774 - get an email, but I can't remember if we get a text. 00:19:53.026 --> 00:20:04.563 - We don't get a text. We simply get an email. Much like Kirk, I know when my kids are doing laundry at 00:20:04.563 --> 00:20:16.213 - my house. When they come home. Okay. Well, thank you for that advice. We appreciate it. All right. Any 00:20:16.213 --> 00:20:21.982 - other petitions or communications from the public? 00:20:23.458 --> 00:20:35.662 - All right, next item is the approval of minutes of our meeting of October the 19th. And we all had a 00:20:35.662 --> 00:20:47.866 - chance to take a look at the minutes. All right, it's been moved and seconded to approve the minutes 00:20:47.866 --> 00:20:53.182 - of October 19th. All in favor say aye. Aye. 00:20:53.314 --> 00:21:08.384 - All right, minutes are approved. A regular meeting on the 19th. Next we have standard invoices. And 00:21:08.384 --> 00:21:18.782 - I've already set a chance to review the standard invoices for today. 00:21:22.914 --> 00:21:28.516 - that we approve the standard invoices. All right, she's been moving and seconding. Any discussion on 00:21:28.516 --> 00:21:34.229 - invoices? Can you please just remind me where we stand with our interdepartmental agreements? So after 00:21:34.229 --> 00:21:39.776 - this page process, we will still owe them for 2025. And we're planning on paying that over the next 00:21:39.776 --> 00:21:45.378 - couple of months, or in the next couple of months. And then after that, we'll be caught up. And then 00:21:45.378 --> 00:21:49.150 - hopefully, go ahead. Do we know the exact amount of the 2025? Yeah. 00:21:49.922 --> 00:21:56.864 - Um, so then I'm just curious why, um, why isn't it just paid? Uh, cashflow reasons. Okay. That's a lot 00:21:56.864 --> 00:22:03.603 - of money to shell out all at once. Certainly, yes. Okay. So. Okay. Yep. That's the only reason. And 00:22:03.603 --> 00:22:10.612 - then we'll be caught up. So then. Yep. Then hopefully. We'll only be like one year. Hopefully the first 00:22:10.612 --> 00:22:17.621 - half of 2027. Okay. We'll put 2026 to bed too. Perfect. Thank you. Yep. Thank you. All right. Any other 00:22:17.621 --> 00:22:18.430 - discussion? 00:22:20.130 --> 00:22:34.112 - favor for standard invoices for today say aye aye opposed all right motion carries next then is utility 00:22:34.112 --> 00:22:48.094 - bills for October 22nd all right it's been moved and second to prove the utility bills for October 22nd 00:22:48.866 --> 00:22:58.166 - All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? All right, we've got one more utility bill for October 29th. 00:22:58.166 --> 00:23:07.945 - Review that. I move that we approve the utility bill for October 29th. All right, it's been moved and 00:23:07.945 --> 00:23:16.670 - seconded to approve the utility bill for October 29th. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? 00:23:18.018 --> 00:23:28.401 - motion carries next is wire transfers fees and payroll for November let's see the total there is five 00:23:28.401 --> 00:23:38.988 - hundred and sixty five thousand four hundred forty four dollars and ten cents all right it's been moved 00:23:38.988 --> 00:23:47.742 - and seconded to approve the wire transfers for today all in favor say aye aye opposed 00:23:49.122 --> 00:24:01.140 - All right, motion carries. Next then is the customer refunds for inactive accounts and final bills. 00:24:01.140 --> 00:24:13.639 - And let's see, there's one there for an overpayment. All right, it's been moved and seconded to approve 00:24:13.639 --> 00:24:18.206 - the customer refunds. Any discussion? 00:24:20.674 --> 00:24:27.572 - It's the same, I'm sure. It's probably the same one, yeah. Okay, so Dora dialed properties. What is 00:24:27.572 --> 00:24:34.677 - the sewer install fee that we're refunding them? Those were two single-family residences that paid for 00:24:34.677 --> 00:24:41.645 - a sewer installation fee to get rid of their septic tank. And then after the payment was made, these 00:24:41.645 --> 00:24:47.646 - fees were waived due to the fact that they were changing the septic tank, right? Yeah. 00:24:54.562 --> 00:25:02.207 - already and so we yeah they pretty they paid it and then got qualified for the program so now we're 00:25:02.207 --> 00:25:10.081 - refunding the payment so normally people don't pay anything yeah and it doesn't end up on these claims 00:25:10.081 --> 00:25:17.726 - well fantastic glad to hear people are using the the reimbursement program and that we've been able 00:25:17.726 --> 00:25:23.230 - to convert from the septic system to the sewer yes any other discussion 00:25:23.426 --> 00:25:37.348 - customer refunds all right it's been moved and seconded to approve customer refunds all in favor say 00:25:37.348 --> 00:25:50.718 - aye opposed all right motion carries next then is item five approval of the consent agenda items 00:25:52.834 --> 00:26:02.274 - turn to Catherine Zager for that report. Good evening. I'm Catherine Zager, utilities director. I'm 00:26:02.274 --> 00:26:11.998 - presenting tonight's consent agenda totaling $28,787 for non-chemical contracts. First is with Groomer 00:26:11.998 --> 00:26:19.550 - Construction Inc for $24,987 for the 4th Street curb and concrete installation. 00:26:20.546 --> 00:26:30.163 - Next is with Neowater Treatment LLC for $10.72 per gallon for the 2027 supply of Neowater FX300 phosphorus 00:26:30.163 --> 00:26:40.049 - remover at Blucher Wastewater Treatment Plant. And last is with Electric Plus Inc. for $3,800 for diagnostics 00:26:40.049 --> 00:26:46.430 - for the low service drive number four at Monroe Water Treatment Plant. 00:26:47.106 --> 00:26:56.917 - there any member who wishes to consider one or more of these items individually hearing none if there's 00:26:56.917 --> 00:27:06.446 - no opposition these items will be approved as recommended by staff hearing no opposition the consent 00:27:06.446 --> 00:27:16.446 - agenda is approved okay thank you you've saw that agenda item number we initially was agenda item six for 00:27:17.346 --> 00:27:27.625 - RDC agreement will not be heard this evening. So our next item is requesting approval of resolution 00:27:27.625 --> 00:27:38.418 - 2026-19 to recommend amendments to title 10 of the municipal code in Bloomington entitled the wastewater 00:27:38.418 --> 00:27:44.894 - chapter 1017 food service establishment wastewater discharges. 00:27:45.762 --> 00:27:57.777 - hear a report from Attorney Wheeler. Good evening again. Chris Wheeler with City Legal. If you took 00:27:57.777 --> 00:28:10.632 - the time to review the staff memo, you will see that in July of this year, the state passed House Enrolled 00:28:10.632 --> 00:28:15.198 - Act 1348, which enacted a new statute 00:28:16.354 --> 00:28:23.946 - The state is now finally addressing fats, oils and greases. Up until this year, the state has been wholly 00:28:23.946 --> 00:28:31.610 - silent on the concept of regulating fats, oils and greases. CBU has been regulating fats, oils and greases 00:28:31.610 --> 00:28:38.128 - for quite some time now, and that's where we find our 1017 addresses how we regulate fats, 00:28:38.128 --> 00:28:46.078 - oils and greases. With this new statute, we are no longer in compliance with state law on a few things because 00:28:46.338 --> 00:28:53.857 - the state saw fit to do things a little bit differently than we do, which is not completely unheard 00:28:53.857 --> 00:29:01.678 - of. As a result, we've had to sit down and go through Title X of the Bloomington Municipal Code at 1017 00:29:01.678 --> 00:29:09.422 - and identify those areas where we need to make amendments to bring ourselves into compliance with this 00:29:09.422 --> 00:29:14.686 - new statute. When you go through the red line of Title X, Section 17, 00:29:15.330 --> 00:29:23.537 - I think it's pretty self-explanatory what we're trying to do. There are quite a few changes being made, 00:29:23.537 --> 00:29:31.429 - but mostly what we're doing is adopting new definitions that meet what the state's expecting of us. 00:29:31.429 --> 00:29:39.715 - We are adopting some requirements. We had kind of a blanket requirement to use a specific type of grease 00:29:39.715 --> 00:29:42.398 - detention or grease intercepts in 00:29:42.562 --> 00:29:49.606 - interception device and the state wants more flexibility so that developers and property owners can 00:29:49.606 --> 00:29:56.791 - choose what it is they'd like to use. It also changes some of the requirements by the state as to how 00:29:56.791 --> 00:30:03.906 - often certain detention and interception devices have to be pumped and maintained and then what kind 00:30:03.906 --> 00:30:08.766 - of reporting has to be done with regards to that sort of maintenance 00:30:09.282 --> 00:30:17.534 - and pumping requirements, what those intervals are. So these little nuanced areas of the law, we needed 00:30:17.534 --> 00:30:25.865 - to brush up our own fog in order to bring it into compliance with what the state expects. The good news, 00:30:25.865 --> 00:30:33.879 - I guess, is that with the flexibility that the state would like municipalities and local entities to 00:30:33.879 --> 00:30:38.878 - use, it does allow for developers to avoid some of the expense 00:30:39.298 --> 00:30:47.035 - that goes along with some of the bigger interceptors. So they can use detention devices as opposed to 00:30:47.035 --> 00:30:55.000 - interception devices, which can be cheaper to install. They can be smaller, so the footprint is a little 00:30:55.000 --> 00:31:02.662 - bit smaller, allowing them to have more option on where they might place these interceptors or these 00:31:02.662 --> 00:31:08.958 - retention devices. We also had a scenario where if you were building or developing 00:31:09.186 --> 00:31:16.708 - in areas that were zoned for food service establishments, CBU wanted those new properties or those new 00:31:16.708 --> 00:31:24.083 - developments to just go ahead and install the facilities for grease interceptors unless they entered 00:31:24.083 --> 00:31:31.459 - into an agreement with CBU to do a deed restriction stating currently we don't have any intention to 00:31:31.459 --> 00:31:37.374 - do a food service establishment but if we should change our mind we agree to put 00:31:37.826 --> 00:31:43.739 - and interceptor into the ground. With the new state laws, we have had to change our model a little bit 00:31:43.739 --> 00:31:49.480 - and be a little more flexible and allow new development to show that they are not going to be doing 00:31:49.480 --> 00:31:55.278 - any grease interception. They're not going to be doing anything that would cause grease. So they may 00:31:55.278 --> 00:32:01.134 - not be using a food service establishment. So we had to change some of the language to allow for that 00:32:01.134 --> 00:32:06.014 - kind of flexibility as well, which allows some developers who simply aren't going to 00:32:06.434 --> 00:32:12.431 - be using any kind of a food service establishment to avoid some of that upfront cost of installing grease 00:32:12.431 --> 00:32:18.428 - interceptors. So some good news for the developers, because of this flexibility, I think that's something 00:32:18.428 --> 00:32:24.142 - that is good to know. I'm happy to try and answer any questions with regards to the changes that are 00:32:24.142 --> 00:32:30.082 - being made. I'm not going to go through and line items, show you everything that we're asking to change, 00:32:30.082 --> 00:32:35.966 - but I'm happy to try and go through some of the questions you might have as you've reviewed this stuff. 00:32:36.930 --> 00:32:45.703 - Amanda. I just wanted to, first of all, whoever did the chart for us, I don't know if it was your office 00:32:45.703 --> 00:32:53.890 - or somebody here, this was very, very helpful in understanding everything and showing us the old, 00:32:53.890 --> 00:33:02.496 - the new, why we have to make this change. It made it very, very easy to read and comprehend. So I want 00:33:02.496 --> 00:33:05.086 - to say that I appreciate that. 00:33:05.666 --> 00:33:15.570 - Chris, what if there is a developer that is now and I don't know if we have anyone right now that is 00:33:15.570 --> 00:33:26.063 - building something that has particular requirements that were set forth by the city and they have provided 00:33:26.063 --> 00:33:34.398 - plans. They have gotten all the approvals to get work done and now no longer have to 00:33:34.594 --> 00:33:42.470 - install the grease receptors, but we've already like they're already kind of in process. Is that something 00:33:42.470 --> 00:33:49.978 - that the developer that has to come back to CBU to or to the city to get something amended? Does that 00:33:49.978 --> 00:33:57.486 - make sense? It does. Or like, you know, does it like, oh, well you were pre July one. So this doesn't 00:33:57.486 --> 00:34:02.270 - know this doesn't apply to you or you are now after July one and 00:34:03.682 --> 00:34:14.821 - we need to have some sort of appeal process. I don't know what CBU is doing with regards to some of 00:34:14.821 --> 00:34:26.517 - those transitional developments at the moment. The state law took effect on July 1st. So we, yeah, sure. 00:34:26.517 --> 00:34:33.534 - If you want to come up here, come on up and give your name and 00:34:36.930 --> 00:34:43.452 - My name is Carson Swafford. I'm the pre-treatment inspector here with City of Bloomington Utilities. 00:34:43.452 --> 00:34:50.167 - As of July 1st, we made sure that all of our processes were up to date with what was in the state code. 00:34:50.167 --> 00:34:56.818 - So as of July 1st, we were defaulting to that on all decisions that we made regarding any plan reviews 00:34:56.818 --> 00:35:03.469 - that were happening. So anyone that would have been installing a grease trap, we made sure that it was 00:35:03.469 --> 00:35:05.342 - appropriately sized based on 00:35:05.954 --> 00:35:14.887 - State law Thank you. Thank you for being proactive with that. That's yeah, that's that's great. Appreciate 00:35:14.887 --> 00:35:23.987 - that Yeah, so that's what I would have hoped to hear and everything that happens prior to July 1st Certainly 00:35:23.987 --> 00:35:32.670 - was still under the old laws that there were local regulations Thank you Does someone at the state read 00:35:33.282 --> 00:35:41.081 - our regulations to make sure we're complied so you could write anything you wanted. We did not ask for 00:35:41.081 --> 00:35:48.654 - anybody at the state to review our work. There isn't anybody up there who has a job to review local 00:35:48.654 --> 00:35:56.604 - regulation. Even if we were to ask anybody at the state, they might say that they would decline. They'll 00:35:56.604 --> 00:36:00.542 - let us handle it. Doesn't that put us at risk if we 00:36:00.770 --> 00:36:07.811 - put down. Well, we have that situation going on regularly because we have to try and come into compliance 00:36:07.811 --> 00:36:14.520 - with what the state's doing and our interpretation of the state's law might not always match up with 00:36:14.520 --> 00:36:21.494 - somebody else's interpretation of the state law. So you may have instances where developers might review 00:36:21.494 --> 00:36:28.270 - the same law and think that it means something differently than what our review meant. So you can you 00:36:28.270 --> 00:36:29.598 - can find yourselves 00:36:29.922 --> 00:36:37.974 - At odds so if a developer follows our guidelines But they're different from the state guidelines. Well, 00:36:37.974 --> 00:36:45.949 - the state has imposed this regulation Responsibility on local authorities to take the state's laws and 00:36:45.949 --> 00:36:54.001 - apply them locally So they hope that we do it correctly correct. Yeah, we are any any municipality that 00:36:54.001 --> 00:36:57.950 - has this sort of utility is charged with having to 00:36:58.530 --> 00:37:13.221 - Introduce a fog ordinance if they don't already have one and if they have one to update it to be compliant 00:37:13.221 --> 00:37:23.518 - with the state's new laws Because the state has now entered into this area 00:37:24.194 --> 00:37:32.480 - we are required to follow what the state mandates. If we were trying to regulate in a manner that was 00:37:32.480 --> 00:37:40.685 - inconsistent with the state, it would invite litigation and it would get resolved through litigation 00:37:40.685 --> 00:37:44.990 - if we took it that far, or it could be possible that 00:37:45.346 --> 00:37:51.520 - We didn't realize we were not in compliance, and they pointed it out so that we could change the way 00:37:51.520 --> 00:37:57.817 - we regulate and work it out that way as well. But certainly, the tiebreaker would be a court reviewing 00:37:57.817 --> 00:38:03.991 - the state versus local ordinance and saying whether or not the court thinks that we are in violation 00:38:03.991 --> 00:38:10.349 - with state law. OK, good luck. Well, I'm pretty confident that we have buttoned this up to be compliant 00:38:10.349 --> 00:38:14.750 - with state law. We have to do it all the time. I'm sure you have. Yeah. 00:38:15.138 --> 00:38:21.706 - constantly having to make sure that we are in compliance with what the state allows us to regulate. 00:38:21.706 --> 00:38:28.339 - This is the whole concept of how much home rule do we have, and we don't have a lot. Not a whole lot 00:38:28.339 --> 00:38:35.235 - of wiggle room. I think Lynn would be first to tell you just how difficult it is to constantly be having 00:38:35.235 --> 00:38:41.868 - to update and make sure that you're in compliance with what the state requires as far as regulations 00:38:41.868 --> 00:38:43.838 - are concerned. I would. Yeah. 00:38:45.634 --> 00:38:59.967 - I noticed that you pointed out that there is some some concern I guess or some possibility that this 00:38:59.967 --> 00:39:12.030 - has reduced the amount of oversight that we have in our previous regulations because 00:39:15.554 --> 00:39:23.561 - Some developers or restaurant owners may seek to have smaller devices that, as I understand it, we used 00:39:23.561 --> 00:39:31.338 - to have a required maintenance schedule, but that's not allowed anymore. Yeah, the intervals for how 00:39:31.338 --> 00:39:39.191 - often you need to maintain some of these devices are different than what we would hope for, but there 00:39:39.191 --> 00:39:44.350 - are best practices that should be followed. There is manufacturer, 00:39:44.706 --> 00:39:52.212 - recommended requirements for how often you should pump these devices. I think probably our experts can 00:39:52.212 --> 00:39:59.499 - explain it a little better, but I know that it's not quite up to the rigorous standards that we had 00:39:59.499 --> 00:40:07.005 - hoped for. We were really trying to do as much as possible to keep fat soils and greases out, and this 00:40:07.005 --> 00:40:11.742 - might allow a little bit more to seep in than we would hope for. 00:40:14.978 --> 00:40:24.480 - I'm sorry. Maybe less than the rest of the state. Maybe, yeah. Well, we know the downstream cost of 00:40:24.480 --> 00:40:34.268 - processing fog, and it makes me a little apprehensive, although I know there's nothing we can do about 00:40:34.268 --> 00:40:43.390 - it, because we're a subset of state government, and we have to follow what they mandate for us. 00:40:44.706 --> 00:40:55.562 - It would be not good if we end up having to spend more on the treatment end because of reduced required 00:40:55.562 --> 00:41:06.418 - capabilities by the producers of the grease. Well, it'll be interesting to see what happens in the next 00:41:06.418 --> 00:41:14.142 - couple of years. If there are higher instances of clogging in our system, 00:41:14.530 --> 00:41:22.134 - We might know exactly where to attribute those higher instances, instances. Jim. On the other hand, 00:41:22.134 --> 00:41:30.042 - for the greater good, the state now has fog requirements that weren't there before. It's quite possible 00:41:30.042 --> 00:41:37.723 - that a lot of municipalities who were simply turning a blind eye to it cannot anymore. You're right. 00:41:37.723 --> 00:41:43.806 - That is a good point. The greater good. That's a good point. Although they were 00:41:44.258 --> 00:41:52.045 - They were having, and their treatment systems, they were having to pay more, which they would have to 00:41:52.045 --> 00:41:59.680 - spread out among all of their rate payers. So, yeah. Well, at least the state maybe has made a step 00:41:59.680 --> 00:42:07.544 - forward. And Kirk, you said at the beginning, you set our mission at the beginning. There may be other 00:42:07.544 --> 00:42:14.110 - cities, municipalities that will now look to us as examples for how we've created our 00:42:14.786 --> 00:42:21.491 - um, regulations for within our, within the city. Now the state regulations. I hope they wait until we 00:42:21.491 --> 00:42:28.064 - get to council and recodify so that what they're looking at is in compliance with the state because 00:42:28.064 --> 00:42:34.638 - if they look right now, they're going to be terribly disappointed in what we have. Or perhaps there 00:42:34.638 --> 00:42:41.409 - may be some individuals who will be asked to speak at an event or run a workshop on how to set up your 00:42:41.409 --> 00:42:42.526 - fog regulations. 00:42:43.842 --> 00:42:54.478 - Great. Any other questions on this one? All right. We're ready for a vote here on resolution 2026-19. 00:42:54.478 --> 00:43:05.218 - I move that we approve resolution 2026-19. I move and second. Any further discussion? All in favor say 00:43:05.218 --> 00:43:12.830 - aye. Aye. Opposed? All right. Motion carries. Thank you. You're welcome. 00:43:13.346 --> 00:43:22.142 - Um, next item is requesting approval of an amendment to section 17 of title 10, CBU rules and regulations 00:43:22.142 --> 00:43:30.690 - on backflow. And Matt Dabberton is here to talk to us about this, which is we just switched from sewer 00:43:30.690 --> 00:43:39.486 - now back to water. Yes. Hi folks. I'm Matt Dabberton. I am the environmental program coordinator for CBU. 00:43:40.162 --> 00:43:48.254 - To give a bit of background on this one, while we're on the topic of changing our rules to be consistent 00:43:48.254 --> 00:43:56.269 - with other laws, this section of the rules and regulations, as Chris and I found out in looking through 00:43:56.269 --> 00:44:04.207 - it, predates our backflow program as it was established through the ordinance in 2018. What that meant 00:44:04.207 --> 00:44:08.446 - was there were several sections that were inconsistent 00:44:08.610 --> 00:44:16.400 - with what's written in our ordinance and what's written in state law. So one of the most substantial 00:44:16.400 --> 00:44:24.575 - changes there is the rules and regs currently requires a written 24 hour notice for inspection authority. 00:44:24.575 --> 00:44:32.596 - The ordinance does not and the Indiana administrative code does not. So changing that will give us more 00:44:32.596 --> 00:44:34.910 - flexibility and being able to 00:44:35.490 --> 00:44:44.165 - inspect people's backflow devices to make sure that they're getting tested and working properly to protect 00:44:44.165 --> 00:44:52.436 - our drinking water. The other substantial change is that we are hoping to add a provision towards the 00:44:52.436 --> 00:44:59.814 - end of it that gives us the authority to deny the acceptance of test results from backflow 00:44:59.814 --> 00:45:05.246 - testing contractors that are sending us either inaccurate tests or 00:45:05.762 --> 00:45:14.687 - falsified tests, things like that. We've had a few issues lately with testers submitting people's devices 00:45:14.687 --> 00:45:23.780 - as passing when they have installation issues that put our drinking water at risk, which the state requires 00:45:23.780 --> 00:45:32.199 - them to fail. And so it gives us the authority to kind of regulate within our own system. I'm happy 00:45:32.199 --> 00:45:35.230 - to answer any questions from there. 00:45:37.698 --> 00:45:48.479 - What kind of customers is this normally where you normally see issues? It varies. I mean, most backflow 00:45:48.479 --> 00:45:58.948 - devices are on commercial customers' water systems. People will have them for fire sprinkler systems 00:45:58.948 --> 00:46:05.790 - or domestic water in places like restaurants or things like that. 00:46:06.562 --> 00:46:15.197 - as well as residential lawn sprinkler irrigation systems. I've seen issues with testing in really all 00:46:15.197 --> 00:46:23.663 - three of those instances, whether it's irrigation or fire or domestic water. In Indiana, people are 00:46:23.663 --> 00:46:32.298 - licensed for life for backflow testing, which means that they can forget some of the rules over time. 00:46:32.298 --> 00:46:36.446 - If you've been licensed since 1985, you're still 00:46:36.834 --> 00:46:46.720 - within your legal right to submit test results today. But it doesn't mean that people remember every 00:46:46.720 --> 00:46:56.606 - little installation requirement over that entire period. Okay. Yeah, Jim. Is it difficult to do back 00:46:56.606 --> 00:47:04.926 - load testing? I know it's quite expensive that we pay every year. The test itself is 00:47:05.474 --> 00:47:13.216 - not particularly complicated. The testing, the people who are licensed to do the testing, though, have 00:47:13.216 --> 00:47:20.959 - to go through a 40-hour course with the state in which they learn about all the different rules as far 00:47:20.959 --> 00:47:28.852 - as how you can install the things in compliance with state law, the exact testing procedure as the state 00:47:28.852 --> 00:47:35.166 - wants it to be, and then they have to pass a written and practical exam after that. 00:47:35.810 --> 00:47:47.312 - The actual test itself is rather quick, but the licensing and all of the rules surrounding installation 00:47:47.312 --> 00:47:58.814 - can get kind of complicated. Thank you. All right. Any other questions for Matt? All right. I move that 00:47:58.814 --> 00:48:03.902 - we approve the updates to Section 17. Second. 00:48:04.866 --> 00:48:13.252 - Moved and seconded to approve the amendments to section 17 of title 10 and the other discussion all 00:48:13.252 --> 00:48:21.722 - in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? All right motion carries thank you Matt for your work on that. Thank 00:48:21.722 --> 00:48:30.359 - you very much. Next is requesting approval for amendments to section 26 of CBU's rules and regulations 00:48:30.359 --> 00:48:33.630 - related to stormwater and Liz is here. 00:48:42.658 --> 00:48:49.950 - Good evening. My name is Liz Carter and I'm the MS4 program coordinator for City Bloomington Utilities. 00:48:50.146 --> 00:48:55.698 - looking to add a section to section 26, which is the kind of stormwater section of rules and regs that 00:48:55.698 --> 00:49:01.249 - deals with privately owned driveway culverts. We've had kind of a policy in place about how we treated 00:49:01.249 --> 00:49:07.017 - driveway culverts in the past, but we've never written it down. So it can be kind of confusing for people. 00:49:07.017 --> 00:49:12.568 - While we started talking about creating this policy in writing so that it can be clearly communicated, 00:49:12.568 --> 00:49:18.174 - it turns out we kind of changed our unwritten policy a little bit. So I'm gonna go through how we treat 00:49:18.174 --> 00:49:19.198 - driveway culverts, 00:49:19.586 --> 00:49:24.680 - how we will be treating them going forward should you approve this. So a driveway culvert, we have in 00:49:24.680 --> 00:49:29.673 - the past said the driveway culvert, so the pipe running on your driveway, there might be a ditch on 00:49:29.673 --> 00:49:34.717 - either side, that is the responsibility of the private property owner. So if leaves get stuck in it, 00:49:34.717 --> 00:49:39.761 - you, the property owner, need to get the leaves out of it. So once it's there, it's for the property 00:49:39.761 --> 00:49:41.758 - owner to maintain. But then we have it. 00:49:42.146 --> 00:49:48.186 - problem when we want to do a ditching project through a neighborhood, either if folks don't have a driveway 00:49:48.186 --> 00:49:53.890 - culvert or if we need to upsize it to make the whole system work properly. We've run into problems in 00:49:53.890 --> 00:49:59.538 - the past where if we say that this is your private property, this is your responsibility, folks will 00:49:59.538 --> 00:50:04.739 - just say, I can't afford to replace that culvert, and that makes our whole project not work. 00:50:04.739 --> 00:50:08.542 - In the past, we've had some cost share with people, but then again, 00:50:08.866 --> 00:50:16.137 - our focus would have to be on neighborhoods that can afford to pay something versus neighborhoods that 00:50:16.137 --> 00:50:23.266 - can't. The goal of this policy is to be clear about whose responsibility these culverts are, in what 00:50:23.266 --> 00:50:30.395 - situation CBU will bear the cost of replacing them or adding them, and then to what standard we will 00:50:30.395 --> 00:50:37.666 - put back somebody's driveway. If you have any questions about this, I'm happy to answer them if we get 00:50:37.666 --> 00:50:38.654 - into the very 00:50:38.786 --> 00:50:50.292 - nitty-gritty engineering, I will ask Phil to help. All right. Any discussion on this? So we have a program 00:50:50.292 --> 00:51:01.152 - in place to cost share. We'll have the rules down. So in the past, I think we've kind of made a deal 00:51:01.152 --> 00:51:06.206 - with people where if they paid for the culvert 00:51:06.370 --> 00:51:11.982 - materials we would provide the labor to put it in. We're covering the materials and the labor going 00:51:11.982 --> 00:51:17.651 - forward because not everybody can afford a driveway culvert depending how big it is they can be very 00:51:17.651 --> 00:51:23.487 - expensive and we don't want to have to walk away from ditching projects because you have a neighborhood 00:51:23.487 --> 00:51:29.156 - where people just can't afford their part of the cost share. So we want to be in a place where if we 00:51:29.156 --> 00:51:33.982 - see a need for a ditching project that we're able to go forward with it regardless of 00:51:34.114 --> 00:51:43.247 - um, the residents abilities to replace their driveway culvert. Okay. What, um, so they're just responsible 00:51:43.247 --> 00:51:51.868 - for the maintenance forward and what is there some mechanism for violations? Yes. So, um, we added a 00:51:51.868 --> 00:52:00.318 - clause to title 13 last summer that, um, Kelsey, I believe brought to you that clarified that, um, 00:52:00.770 --> 00:52:08.627 - culverts our responsibility to the private property owner and gave us the ability to do enforcement 00:52:08.627 --> 00:52:16.641 - should they not maintain their culvert because of course it can affect other people. All right sounds 00:52:16.641 --> 00:52:24.733 - like an improvement to stormwater in the neighborhoods that need this improvement. All right any other 00:52:24.733 --> 00:52:26.462 - questions discussion? 00:52:28.930 --> 00:52:40.306 - I move that we approve the culvert policy additions. Then moved and seconded to approve the amendments 00:52:40.306 --> 00:52:51.350 - to section 26. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? All right, motion carries. Thank you. Thank you. 00:52:51.350 --> 00:52:58.750 - Thanks for your work on that. Next is approval of resolution 2026. 00:52:59.042 --> 00:53:06.126 - Dash 18 to designate surplus property for auction or worthless surplus. Matt. For this month. We do 00:53:06.126 --> 00:53:13.280 - have a old camera truck that is not functioning anymore, so we're going to try to get some money for 00:53:13.280 --> 00:53:20.505 - that and we have a lot of concrete forms that we've had up on the hill for quite awhile. That streets 00:53:20.505 --> 00:53:27.660 - taken over most of our concrete work, so we're going to try to get some money for those and clear up 00:53:27.660 --> 00:53:28.510 - some space. 00:53:29.058 --> 00:53:38.726 - And then also, there's some pipe that we've had for a while that we're deeming obsolete that we're not 00:53:38.726 --> 00:53:48.207 - going to use any longer. So those are the big hitters there. OK. Any questions for Matt? I move that 00:53:48.207 --> 00:53:55.998 - we approve the resolution 2026-18. Second. It's been moved and seconded to approve 00:53:56.578 --> 00:54:05.222 - surplus property auction or worthless surplus items. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? All right, 00:54:05.222 --> 00:54:14.125 - motion carries. Next we've got a request for approval of the First Amendment to the agreement with GAI 00:54:14.125 --> 00:54:23.806 - consultants. Engineer Peden is here to give us the lowdown. Yeah, Jane's off today. So Phil Peden, engineering. 00:54:24.386 --> 00:54:31.663 - Yes, this is an amendment to the contract you've already approved and what brought it to back to the 00:54:31.663 --> 00:54:38.940 - board is that there's a permit required through the Army Corps and sometimes it takes a little while 00:54:38.940 --> 00:54:46.361 - to hear back from them. So by the time we heard back about the permit regarding the element of Section 00:54:46.361 --> 00:54:52.990 - 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 requiring that historic review of the 00:54:53.954 --> 00:55:01.078 - structure so once we heard back we the engineers said that that might be a possibility so we originally 00:55:01.078 --> 00:55:07.928 - has it as a contingent component within the first contract. Controller saw that said you can't have 00:55:07.928 --> 00:55:14.778 - a contingency in there so that got removed and then now we know for sure it needs to be in there so 00:55:14.778 --> 00:55:21.628 - we're back to the board after receiving the proposal to complete that permit. So Phil I this is 6th 00:55:21.628 --> 00:55:23.614 - Street but 6th and Rogers or 00:55:24.002 --> 00:55:33.432 - It's near 6, and yeah, it's closer to the B line, I think. OK. All right. What's the historic piece 00:55:33.432 --> 00:55:43.051 - of it? It's got a stone arch. You can't see it. It's all underground. But yeah, it meets the criteria 00:55:43.051 --> 00:55:52.670 - to go through this process. Gee, if we're going to do all of this, at least we want to see it, right? 00:55:53.570 --> 00:56:02.949 - Well, you can take pictures. Right. All right. OK. Any questions for Phil on this one? I move that we 00:56:02.949 --> 00:56:12.604 - approve the contract amendment with GAI consultants. It's been moved and seconded. Any other discussion? 00:56:12.604 --> 00:56:22.718 - All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? All right. Motion carried. Thank you. And thank you, Phil. Our last item. 00:56:23.938 --> 00:56:32.182 - of action items it looks like is requesting approval of our on-call agreement with Ken's Westside Service. 00:56:32.182 --> 00:56:40.041 - Matt. Call contract. Ken's has the equipment to help us move our larger equipment, which not a lot of 00:56:40.041 --> 00:56:47.977 - other toy companies have. So we're just trying to get them in a position where if we need them, we can 00:56:47.977 --> 00:56:52.446 - give them a call to move some larger equipment. OK. Good. 00:56:56.930 --> 00:57:07.758 - All right, any questions for Matt on this agreement with Ken's Westside Tolling? Moved and seconded 00:57:07.758 --> 00:57:19.126 - to approve the service contract. All in favor say aye. Aye. All right, opposed? Motion carries. Carried. 00:57:19.126 --> 00:57:26.814 - All right. Next is old business. Any old business from the board? Yes. 00:57:27.298 --> 00:57:36.897 - It's kind of old slash new business, old business being that we still have a vacant position on the 00:57:36.897 --> 00:57:46.591 - board. And that's been vacant for, I don't even, I mean, I feel like it's been since the summer. End 00:57:46.591 --> 00:57:56.670 - of summer. And calling to the attention that we have three board members whose terms technically expired 00:57:57.570 --> 00:58:08.394 - December 31, to our president and our vice president. Knowing that this is probably not a priority of 00:58:08.394 --> 00:58:19.643 - the administration and how long this process does take, I really, because Kirk and Molly are both mayoral 00:58:19.643 --> 00:58:27.390 - appointees. I'm a council appointee. The vacancy is a council appointee. 00:58:27.490 --> 00:58:36.019 - The council appointees even take, I think, even longer than the mayoral ones because they have to be 00:58:36.019 --> 00:58:44.632 - interviewed. So we're now at November 1st. I know a lot of that is out of our control, but I do think 00:58:44.632 --> 00:58:53.499 - we need to be very proactive on that, especially with our two leadership positions. That's a good point. 00:58:53.499 --> 00:58:57.214 - Cat, have you heard anything from downtown? 00:59:04.322 --> 00:59:12.945 - the council appointment does take a little bit longer and that is what I know about that. Good that's 00:59:12.945 --> 00:59:21.653 - that's good to know. Yeah have been checking in on it. And just a reminder that our our board is based 00:59:21.653 --> 00:59:30.191 - on political party and it has to be balanced so that's you know again something else that I think we 00:59:30.191 --> 00:59:33.150 - just have to be aware of. Makes it 00:59:34.306 --> 00:59:43.480 - A little more challenging for the appointing body. It does make it challenging. And it is a requirement 00:59:43.480 --> 00:59:52.654 - of the state that we do. We stay balanced. That we follow the balance, correct. So anyway, that's, like 00:59:52.654 --> 01:00:01.563 - I said, old slash new business, Kirk. Yes, OK. That's good. I'm glad you raised that, because we are 01:00:01.563 --> 01:00:02.974 - two months from 01:00:03.746 --> 01:00:11.909 - The deadline. And I do know that in the past there has been some leniency with this, but that leniency 01:00:11.909 --> 01:00:19.834 - has gone into February or March. So again, not a reflection on staff, but this is something that we 01:00:19.834 --> 01:00:27.760 - do have to put in front of the administration that we want to be able to continue to operate and do 01:00:27.760 --> 01:00:31.326 - what we need to do to serve our rate payers. 01:00:34.818 --> 01:00:45.025 - Thank you, good reminder. Any old business from staff? Okay, new business from the board. All right, 01:00:45.025 --> 01:00:55.839 - new business from staff. All right, then I don't think we've had any subcommittees since the last meeting. 01:00:55.839 --> 01:01:04.126 - And so then we're up to staff reports. Just one, I wanted to congratulate Keeson. 01:01:04.226 --> 01:01:13.827 - Page for passing his certified erosion sediment and stormwater inspector exam or the SESWEE. Congratulations. 01:01:13.827 --> 01:01:22.118 - Great. Thank you. Anything else? All right. Any other petitions or communications from public? 01:01:22.118 --> 01:01:28.926 - Anybody else? Okay. Well, I think we can stand adjourned then. Thank you all.