Vice President: Mr. Gembala called for nominations for Vice President. Mr. Gembala nominated Bill Manousopoulos for Vice President; Mr. Furtek seconded the nomination. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 3-0.
Mr. Pondinas said it is unknown if there is any buried pipe or anything underneath the residential lots. If someone buys any one of those three lots, they may not be able to put a shed or any structure in that area. It is part of the easement on those lots. Mr. Pondinas doesn’t know if it is wise to get the permit and then find out IDEM says we can’t do it. Then the $8000 permit fee is lost. You need the permit to drill the well. It would take about two to three months to get everything going. Mr. Pondinas suggested that Mr. Gembala send the drawing to IDEM and find out if we can do it.
Mr. Furtek asked if we could send the drawing to IDEM for approval without paying the $8000 application fee. IDEM can tell us if we can do it or not.
Mr. Gembala suggested we table this permit until Haas finds out what the options are.
Mr. Manousopoulos made a motion to table this permit in its entirety pending on the answer we get from IDEM and the engineers as to whether or not we can move along without paying the permit fee and get a timeline for approval. Mr. Furtek seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 3-0.
Mr. Manousopoulos made a motion to amend Item B for consideration of Cender Dalton and Baker Tilly for the service agreement for 2022. Mr. Furtek seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous 3-0 vote.
Mr. Pondinas stated that we should be able to attain that area and at the same time, build the buildings and well houses. Well 9 still needs to be connected to Cline Avenue. There’s 600 feet to go into the treatment plant. There is a question getting the pipe, but they are working on it. Both wells could probably be operational by 2023.
Mr. Pondinas said they are working on a water main coming out of Well 4 and coming up to U.S. 41 going south to 109th. The water main that’s in front of Décor Tile that Franciscan owns now, goes from the middle of Alsip Nursery and goes south all the way to a valve that’s close to the Shrine. It would go up 105th to Bailey and then out to the field and stop with a stub there. It can go further east and when that developer who owns that 200 acres wants to tie in, they can do that. The Board should be getting something soon as these were sent out for bids.
Mr. Manousopoulos made a motion to pay the Water Utility Docket as presented. Mr. Furtek seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 3-0.
Water District APVs in the amount of $13,975.87.
Mr. Manousopoulos made a motion to pay the Water District Docket as presented. Mr. Furtek seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 3-0.
Respectfully Submitted:
Gerri Kudzia, Recording Secretary
St. John Waterworks Board
Mr. Manousopoulos thought the Board was going to wait for IDEM to see if it was going to be acceptable to even put the well there.
Mr. Pondinas stated that an email came out today (1-21-22), and it was sent to the Board. The Board already has a copy of the plot of the three lots in that circle. Megan said that wasn’t going to fly, so that’s not going to be possible the way it is. They probably won’t pass that. It is going to have to go back to the Developer. That’s why the Plan Commission wants a letter from the Water Board.
Mr. Furtek agreed with Mr. Manousopoulos in regards to retaining Baker Tilly.
Mr. Manousopoulos passed the gavel over to Mr. Furtek. Mr. Furtek acknowledged receipt of the gavel.
Mr. Manousopoulos made a motion to approve Baker Tilly as Financial Advisor for 2022 for the Waterworks Board. Mr. Furtek seconded the motion. The motion carried by a roll-call vote of 2-0.
Mr. Manousopoulos Yes
Mr. Furtek Yes
Mr. Manousopoulos regained possession of the gavel.
Mr. Furtek Yes
Mr. Manousopoulos Yes
Respectfully Submitted:
Gerri Kudzia, Recording Secretary
St. John Waterworks Board
Mr. Furtek Yes
Mr. Manousopoulos Yes
Mr. Gembala Yes
Mr. Manousopoulos made a motion to approve the January 21, 2022, special meeting minutes as presented. Mr. Furtek seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 3-0.
Mr. Furtek Yes
Mr. Manousopoulos Yes
Mr. Gembala Yes
Mr. Gembala asked if that conservation area on the subdivision plat is going to be approved by the Plan Commission.
Mr. Pondinas said no, he didn’t think so. At the Peerless meeting, the engineers said it was okay and good to go.
Mr. Dravet stated there is actually a proposed Well 10. It will be near the existing Wells 3 and 5. It was brought up in that meeting, there was an additional fracture in that same area. The first step in this process is to do an aquifer test to make sure that this proposed well will not interfere with 3 and 5. Right now, we’re not technically allowed to run 3 and 5 at the same time because they’re only 20’ apart unless it’s an emergency. So we are going to try to get a 5” diameter pipe about 225’ down and run a two hour test pump to make sure that it can produce the water quality and not interfere with the existing wells. We have a quote of $7950 to do that test well. So we’re looking into adding this. It is close-ish to 3 and 5 so it’s already on Town-owned property. Getting the pipe installed will be relatively easy because the treatment plant is right there. There are a lot of advantages to that particular location. This will be in addition to Wells 8 and 9.
Mr. Pondinas added this is a cheaper way of seeing if that’s going to work. I think that the total price might be around $21,000. If we find that it works, that’s another well we can drill.
Mr. Dravet said they are going to put data logging transducers into this new well. It will run 3 or 5 or potentially both for a small of time to do a worst case and see how that affects the aquifer. The new well will be drilled 10’ away from that location. I’m hoping to put a permanent transducer down in that existing pipe to permanently monitor the aquifer.
Mr. Gembala asked Mr. Pondinas about his email concerning the purchase of the 18” pipe. Mr. Pondinas said they did find 18” pipe. There is 600’ to go to from Redeemer Church into the building. There is concern about the line stop for Well 8. It stopped right on the property line and it measured 210 more feet. Mr. Pondinas thinks we should order 850’. The price would be a little more than $66,000. This should go to the Town Council and tell them we need that to connect Well 8. If there’s extra pipe, it can be stuck on the stub that is off of Cline and Parrish. It would head south, and we can put a reducer on there so we’re not going to waste any pipe. It would go 16” from there all the way to Well 9. The engineer said we can do that but we have to match up the 18” pipe to finish that project. It’s going to be a 40 x 40 building for Well 8. Not sure where they would come in to it because I haven’t talked to the engineer. We want to make sure we have enough 18” pipe to complete that project. That pipe will just be in the ground and come into the building. From there it will be ductile. We need to get Well 9 going because it will probably be the spring of 2023 when it will be ready. The way we are building in Town, we are going to have to get both of those wells going.
Mr. Manousopoulos made a motion to approve the cost of the IDEM Permit. Mr. Furtek seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 3-0.
Mr. Furtek Yes
Mr. Manousopoulos Yes
Mr. Gembala Yes
Mr. Manousopoulos made a motion for a recommendation to the Town Council to purchase the 18” pipe Mr. Pondinas found. Mr. Furtek seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 3-0.
Mr. Furtek Yes
Mr. Manousopoulos Yes
Mr. Gembala Yes
Mr. Manousopoulos made a motion to execute the Baker Tilly Contract for the Water Board. Mr. Furtek seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 3-0.
Mr. Furtek Yes
Mr. Manousopoulos Yes
Mr. Gembala Yes
Mr. Pondinas sent the Board a bid from Ferguson Waterworks for an 8” stainless steel meter which is used to monitor water we receive from Schererville. A water study was done and it was found that the meter should be calibrated or changed out. It is 15+ years old and because of its size, the cost is $11,465, plus $500 for a sending unit. It’s a turbine meter and not sure if we can get parts to rebuild it. The new meter would be an octave meter which has no moving parts in it.
Mr. Manousopoulos made a motion to recommend the purchase of the meter for $11,465 from Ferguson Waterworks to the Town Council. Mr. Furtek seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 3-0.
Mr. Furtek Yes
Mr. Manousopoulos Yes
Mr. Gembala Yes
Mr. Pondinas mentioned there was going to be a demonstration of the new SCADA System at Austgen Electric on Wednesday, February 23rd. He invited Mr. Manousopoulos to come.
There is going to be a meeting with the engineers on Wednesday, February 16th, regarding the water main placement for the W. 93rd and U. S. 41 corner expansion project.
Mr. Manousopoulos made a motion to accept that there are no write-offs. Mr. Furtek seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 3-0.
Mr. Furtek Yes
Mr. Manousopoulos Yes
Mr. Gembala Yes
Mr. Manousopoulos made a motion to pay the Water District Docket as presented. Mr. Furtek seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 3-0.
Mr. Furtek Yes
Mr. Manousopoulos Yes
Mr. Gembala Yes
Water Utility Docket in the amount of $757,543.79.
Mr. Manousopoulos made a motion to pay the Water Utility Docket as presented. Mr. Furtek seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 3-0.
Mr. Furtek Yes
Mr. Manousopoulos Yes
Mr. Gembala Yes
Mr. Furtek Yes
Mr. Manousopoulos Yes
Mr. Gembala Yes
Respectfully Submitted:
Gerri Kudzia, Recording Secretary
St. John Waterworks Board
Mr. Pondinas stated that you have to pay for the IDEM Permit now and after that, the well will be drilled probably in June.
Mr. Dravet further clarified that the previous request from Peerless for $21,750 is for an exploratory well between well 3 and 5. The Peerless request for $145,765 is specifically for well 9.
Mr. Gembala wanted to put on the record that we will be billed as each phase is completed.
Mr. Manousopoulos made a motion to approve the Peerless Midwest Request to Purchase in the amount of $145,765. Mr. Furtek seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 3-0.
Respectfully Submitted:
Gerri Kudzia, Recording Secretary
St. John Waterworks Board
Mr. Manousopoulos made a motion to approve the February 28, 2022, special meeting minutes as presented. Mr. Furtek seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 3-0.
Mr. Gembala stated that everything has been executed on the contracts we had at the special meeting moving forward on all of those items.
Mr. Pondinas said an email came in today about 2 p.m. from Haas Engineering regarding the upcoming water main projects. Since the Board did not have a chance to review everything, there will be a special meeting on Monday, March 21st at 5:30 pm to discuss it.
The SCADA System is moving forward with the water side and it will probably start going in at the end of this month.Mr. Dravet mentioned at the last meeting, the Board approved the Wonderware Licensing so we’re good for the new software update for the new SCADA System. We are moving to a system platform. It’s supposed to be real slick.
Mr. Manousopoulos made a motion to pay the Water District Docket as presented. Mr. Furtek seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 3-0.
Water Utility Docket in the amount of $286,502.59.
Mr. Manousopoulos made a motion to pay the Water Utility Docket as presented. Mr. Furtek seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 3-0.
Mr. Manousopoulos asked to add the following to Reports and Correspondence:
Mr. Manousopoulos said he has been getting quite a few phone calls especially from our senior residents regarding in respect to inflation. He would like to begin talks with Baker Tilly about instituting a water senior discount.
Mr. Manousopoulos made a motion to put something together with Baker Tilly about instituting a water senior discount. Mr. Furtek seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote of 3-0.
Mr. Gembala would like this added to the next agenda if it is ready by then.
Respectfully Submitted:
Gerri Kudzia, Recording Secretary
St. John Waterworks Board
Mr. Scott Kuchta with Haas & Associates said there are four sub-projects.
1. Olcott Ave. from 95th to 97th
2. Olcott Ave. between Homestead Heights Dr. running north to just south of Bull Run Ditch
3. 96th and 97th Courts which are cul-de-sacs that back up to the back rear yards of houses that are on Olcott
These three sub-projects are kind of all in the same neighborhood.
4. West 85th between Primrose and Magnolia Street on the northwest corner of Town.
All of the Olcott projects including 96th & 97th are 8 inch main replacement projects. These are mains that have been failing over the years that Public Works identified as areas that need main replacement. In addition, since 8 inch is the new Town standard for minimum main size, we’re going from 6 to 8 for those mains.
Then 85th is currently an 8 inch main and that will get upsized to 12 inch because there’s currently 12 inch running up to Primrose. That will extend the 12 inch all the way out to Magnolia along 85th.
Mr. Gembala wanted to know where the main is located on 85th. Mr. Kuchta said it’s sort of down the north side of the westbound travel lane. We seem to be clear of that. We are going to be in the roadway shoulder. Unfortunately, there’s a continuous gas line and various other conflicts along there. That said, the road is overdue for repaving, so we figured this is a good time to get in there. It’s going to be basically on the edge of pavement for, don’t hold me to this, maybe two thirds of that whole length will be right along the edge of pavement. There is a portion as we get closer to Primrose where we can get back into the shoulder grass area. There is storm water and gas utility all along that south side of the road.
The Olcott projects from 95th to 97th in addition to the Bull Run Ditch down to Homestead Heights will include complete sidewalk and tree replacement. So we’re basically going to clear that right away from the property line to the back of the curb. Included in this is new driveway aprons, sidewalks and trees. That’s one of the causes of failure particularly between 95th and 97th are tree roots. The Courts which is the third sub-project in that area, just doesn’t have sidewalks but will be getting new driveway aprons in the areas we disturb.
Mr. Kuchta stated this is about 3.8 million assigned from the bond measure last year. Prices are a little bit unknown right now, but we’re coming in at under 1.6 million (1.53 right now). Part of the purpose of putting this out to bid now is so we can get some pricing feedback. Then we will know how much is left for the balance of the projects that are allocating to that 3.8 million. Unfortunately due to inflation, we’re probably going to have to lose some total aggregate scope of all the projects we had hoped to do with that bond money.
Mr. Gembala wanted to know if more than one contractor will be involved with these projects. Mr. Kuchta responded that it will be one contractor, one contract with four different site areas.
Mr. Gembala asked if there is any foreseen problems with material shortage. Mr. Kuchta said yes, material and contractor availability and pricing materials. The Board will have 60 days to award and beyond that, the contractor can back out. That is basically how long they can hold their prices.
Mr. Manousopoulos wanted to know if for some reason something goes wrong with the contractor, do we have an out in the contract.
Mr. Kuchta says they typically put in liquidated damages and is not sure what the amount is. That is one way to adjust for that. They will also have a performance bond that will be issued with the project. If there are significant issues for things that we agree are beyond everyone’s control, I think we just come back to the Board and negotiate with the contractor about how to get it done.
Mr. Gembala asked if the bids will be opened by the Water Board. The bids will be opened by this Board and then recommendation to the Town Council would probably follow. The bids can also be held under advisement after they are opened until the following meeting.
Mr. Manousopoulos made a motion for Haas & Associates to proceed with bidding for Contract 1 - 2022 water main replacement project. Mr. Furtek seconded the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous roll call vote of 3-0.
Mr. Furtek Yes
Mr. Manousopoulos Yes
Mr. Gembala Yes
Respectfully Submitted:
Gerri Kudzia, Recording Secretary
St. John Waterworks Board