Vice President: Mr. Kmetz called for nominations for Vice President. Ms. Krull made a motion to nominate Patti Sims-Smierciak as Vice President; Mr. Setlak seconded the nomination. Ms. Sims-Smierciak was elected Vice President by a unanimous roll-call vote of 5-0.
Mr. Setlak made a motion to approve the landscape credit of $79.02 for Dustin & Kristen Carson of Redbud Drive. Ms. Sims-Smierciak seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 5-0.
Ms. Krull made a motion to approve the landscape credit for Cristina Flores of Sherwood Court in the amount of $99.73. Ms. Sims-Smierciak seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 5-0.
Ms. Sims-Smierciak made a motion to approve the landscape credit for Nicole & Daniel Kvachkoff of Juniper Lane in the amount of $329.72. Mr. Setlak seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 5-0.
Ms. Sims-Smierciak made a motion to approve the landscape credit for Ken & Brigitte McNeill of Dunegrass Way in the amount of $64.31. Mr. Setlak seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 5-0.
Mr. Setlak made a motion to approve the landscape credit for Nancy Mikolajczak of Larkspur Terrace in the amount of $136.79. Ms. Krull seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 5-0.
Ms. Krull made a motion to approve the landscape credit for Darlene Rozycki of Brookhaven in the $68.67. Mr. Setlak seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 5-0.
Ms. Sims-Smierciak made a motion to defer the last three credits on the agenda pending usage data from the Clerk’s Office. Ms. Krull seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 5-0.
Ms. Sims-Smierciak pointed out that there was an agreement signed by our Town Manager for Cender Dalton on January 14, 2022. Furthermore, Ms. Sims-Smierciak stated that in the past, this board had the legal jurisdiction to choose its own financial advisor. The financial cost to bring Cender up to speed would be prohibitive and a waste of our taxpayers’ money.
Mr. Pondinas was asked if he knew about this. Mr. Pondinas said he was surprised at the Council meeting. The Council said they were going to do these contracts for the lawyer, engineering, Baker Tilly and Cender. Mr. Pondinas told the Council that there was a contract that he knew nothing about. The Town Council said they had a committee of two people who met and that’s all Mr. Pondinas knew.
Ms. Sims-Smierciak made a motion to defer this to the February meeting to consider both Cender and Baker Tilly agreements for 2022 and to speak with our attorney relative to our legal authority to choose our own advisor. Mr. Setlak seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 5-0.
Ms. Sims-Smierciak made a motion to pay the Wastewater APVs in the amount of $744,260.63. Ms. Krull seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 5-0.
Respectfully Submitted:
Gerri Kudzia, Recording Secretary
St. John Sanitary District
Ms. Krull made a motion to approve the landscape credit for Scott & Jodie Eggert of 9811 Rosewood Dr. in the amount of $117.17; Sheridan Lodico of 9810 Dunegrass Way, credit of $22.32; and Alena Tucci of 9800 Dunegrass Way, credit of $33.24. Ms. Sims-Smierciak seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 3-0.
Mr. Pondinas reported the Sanitary Board has been paying for the wastewater side of the Scada System. It is payment number 8 or 9 of possibly 12 payments, then that part of the system will be paid for. Don’t know if there will be anything extra or anything they might have to tweak.
Mr. Dravet stated the Sanitary Board’s portion of the Scada System software from Wonderware will be $2406, which will be signed at the Town Council meeting next week.
Mr. Dravet also wanted to let the Board know that the wastewater bill from Schererville came in for $870,000 plus. This is because in July of 2021, the rate for treatment went from $1.79/1000 gallons to $1.99/1000 gallons. Our accountant did not get updated, so we are being billed the back amount from July thru December 2021. There will be no interest or penalties.
The Board questioned the Wastewater APVs for the Microsoft Agreement bill. Mr. Dravet explained that amount is the Sanitary Board’s portion of the total Microsoft bill for the Town. It’s one-third sewer, one-third water and one-third general fund. The price went up because we had to purchase the advance threat protection option as a part of our cyber security insurance. We’ve also added quite a number of computers over the last several years. This is the first year of a three year contract at a fixed price barring nothing changes. As technology is added, a true up agreement has to be done which will be a separate bill to add in the extra cost for extra computer.
The U. S. Bank 2012 Sewage Works Refunding bill was also questioned. Since no one seemed to know what this was for, the Board will not approve it until clarity from the Clerk’s Office is obtained.
Ms. Sims-Smierciak made a motion to approve the Wastewater Docket with the exception of the U. S. Bank 2012 Sewage Works Refunding amount pending clarity on that. Ms. Krull seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 3-0.
Respectfully Submitted:
Gerri Kudzia, Recording Secretary
St. John Sanitary District
Mr. Kmetz wanted to know when this would be completed. Mr. Dravet replied possibly September. There is also the tie-in to the variable frequency drives for the water side. There’s probably going to be some VFD’s for the sanitary side as well. We’re still working through which lift stations need what. Installation will definitely be the fall, definitely this year.
Mr. Pondinas said that they have all the parts and don’t have to worry about chips and stuff. Everything should be in stock. It’s just a matter of them getting it together and seeing whether or not there’s any flaws.
Mr. Setlak made a motion to approve the Sewage Works Bond APV for $9,758.75. Ms. Sims-Smierciak seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 4-0.
Mr. Dravet wanted to remind the Board that one of the two dockets will be considerably larger because of the water rate adjustment from Schererville.
Ms. Sims-Smierciak made a motion to approve the Sanitary District APVs in the amount of $20,007.88. Ms. Krull seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 4-0.
Mr. Dravet explained the increase from Schererville. They did not charge us the corrected rate which went into effect in July of last year. So they went back and rebilled us for the difference in the rate which was like 33 cents/thousand gallons. If memory serves me without the documentation in front of me, it was a little less than a million dollars. It looks like this bill missed the docket again. I will have a talk with our accounts payable person.
Ms. Sims-Smierciak pointed out that this month is high also because we have January and February’s bills and a transfer of funds into the general operating fund. Going forward, we will probably have an increase in fuel costs too.
Mr. Kmetz confirmed with Mr. Dravet that the Schererville bill will be on next month’s docket.
Ms. Sims-Smierciak made a motion to approve the Wastewater Docket in the amount of $1,052,605.93. Mr. Setlak seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 4-0.
Respectfully Submitted:
Gerri Kudzia, Recording Secretary
St. John Sanitary District
