Big Lake Area Sanitary District
Monthly Board Meeting Minutes #56
March 13, 2012 at 6:30 PM @ Sawyer Community Center
1.
Call to Order
Chairman Fredrickson called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM.
2.
Roll Call
Present:
John Fredrickson, Chair
John Peterson, Vice Chair
Wayne Dupuis
Rocky Rennquist
David Nelson, Treasurer
Debbie Gellatly, Admin Asst
Absent
None
Guest
Nancy Schuldt
Howard Smith, MSA
2 lake residents
3.
Approve Agenda
Motion (Peterson/Dupuis): To approve the March 13, 2012 agenda as provided.
4.
Approve Minutes
Motion (Dupuis/Rennquist): To approve February 14, 2012 board meeting minutes as
recorded. Motion passed.
5.
Treasurer’s Report/Payment of Bills (D. Gellatly)
D. Gellatly presented the monthly bank statement from Cornerstone Bank showing an
ending checking balance of $21.735.35. Claims and bills waiting approval totaled $955.83
to be paid with checks 1240-1247. Ending balance in checking and savings was
$179,197.73. It was suggested to pay Intuit for the remainder of the calendar year to avoid
any interruption in website service. The fee is $19.99 per month for March through
December.
Motion (Peterson/Dupuis): to approve Treasurer’s Report and payment of bills.
6.
Correspondence
a. Letters from residents responding to 1-13-2012 mailing. Two letters were received
after the February 14th meeting. The first was from Ken and Marcia Klatt and Jean Jestus.
The second was received from Douglas and Andrew Omar. Both stated they may have land
suitable for purchase by BLASD. See further discussion.
b. Email correspondence from Brett Ballavance with MPCA. The email had links to
current timeline for funding this upcoming construction season. The second link was for
Page 1 of 3
funding options. The third link is to the Green Project Reserve Program which BLASD
would be eligible for if they go with a land discharge and consumption use nitrogen. The
land discharge would give the project an additional 20 points bringing it closer to a PFA
loan. It would also qualify for a grant that covers 25% of the project cost. An example
permit was also provided from EPA Region 5.
7.
Old Business
a. Update on Alternate Board Member By-Law modifications
After some brief discussion it was decided no legal review was needed to amend the
BLASD by-laws. Under Section 2.6 Vacancies John Fredrickson motioned to add sub
section c. to read: Short-term vacancies. Vacancies on the Board by reason of sickness or
unavoidable short notice schedule conflict may be filled by a duly appointed alternate
designated by Perch Lake Township or FDL business Committee. Appointees must meet all
of the qualifications set forth in this document for regular Board Members. John Peterson
second. Motion Passed. Debbie will update the by-laws.
b. Update on Funding/Establishment of a Finance Committee
John Fredrickson and Wayne Dupuis volunteered to work on Finance Committee. Nancy
Schuldt was not sure if Jason Hollinday from FDL was able to help but Shannon and Rick
Guitare, from FDL may be of assistance. She will check with them.
There were no additional changes to the PER at this time.
c. Update on Building Sites - MSA and Carlton County will assist with the follow up
regarding the 2 individual land owner responses to the January letter as well as the original
site and the Watters property if available. John Fredrickson met with Carlton County
Commissioner and Land Department on 3-12-2012. The Carlton County parcel south of W
Moorhead Rd and east of Mission Rd is still a potential site. He also stated they are willing
to assist with other potential site sources.Dave Nelson will continue to try and contact Pat
Watters regarding the Watters property. A follow up of the two property owners will also be
pursued.
8.
New Business
a. Discuss conference call with Jim Colleti of EPA Region 5 - Nancy Schuldt will pursue
more information and get back to the board regarding options surface discharge vs. sub
surface discharge and permitting. A sub surface discharge has a nitrogen concern with
proximity to drinking water. Zoning would want to make sure no drinking wells now or in
the future would be affected with this type of approach. Nancy will discuss with Brett
Balavance.
b. Discuss updated goals and timeline for project -With the help of Howard Smith from
MSA John Fredrickson created a timeline for the project. John and Howard feel that
realistically 1 yr from now a funding package could be secured and a design implemented. If
the plan stays on track there would be a possibility of getting bids as early as April 2014.
John F suggested using this timeline as a guide to stay on track. Nancy Schult suggested to
plan sufficient time on the proposed timeline for legal work on easements and doing survey
work. It will take time to work with individual property owners on signatures regarding
easements.
Motion (Fredrickson/Dupuis) to adopt the project schedule going forward. Motion
Passed.
Page 2 of 3
c. Discuss engineering support for updated goals and timeline - Howard Smith with
MSA will work with John Fredrickson. Motion (Fredrickson/Dupuis) to engage MSA
on a as needed basis to support site selection and resolution of the use attainability
request. All hours will be reviewed with John Fredrickson prior to spending them
and an engineering progress/cost report will be provided at
monthly
board
meetings. Motion passed. It is estimated that the time period will be about 6 months.
Howard Smith provided a list of rates charged for MSA services. John Fredrickson feels
MSA rates are comparable to other engineering firms he has dealt with.
John Fredrickson mentioned a prior bill provided to him by Carl Scharfe for prior survey
work that will be reviewed prior to any payment. It was suggested to him by an area lake
resident to review engineering service bills carefully.
9.
10.
d.Open
Motion (Peterson/Rennquist) to review the parcels provided by resident letters, the old
dump site, the gravel pit site, and possible Watters site before next meeting. Motion
passed. It was also mentioned that land owners Klatt/Jestus may want the BLASD to
purchase home and land for site and this may not be feasible.
Public Comment
None.
Adjournment
Motion (Dupuis/Nelson): To adjourn at 7:22 PM. Motion passed.
Next meeting April 10, 2012 at 6:30 PM @ Sawyer Community Center.
Respectfully submitted,
Debbie Gellatly
Page 3 of 3